Diego Sanchez will never be a contender unless...

Bay Area

Bay Area

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he fixes his standup. I have a ton of respect for that guy after last night. He has some serious heart! I love how, with 10 seconds left to go in the fight, he takes a deep breath, then charges in and starts winging punches. He got the worst of those exchanges, but he still kept throwing. I don't know how long he plans to fight in the UFC, but he cant continue fighting like that.

What do you guys think he needs to work on?

Any opinions on the fight? Enjoyable?

Discuss
 
Bay Area said:
he fixes his standup. I have a ton of respect for that guy after last night. He has some serious heart! I love how, with 10 seconds left to go in the fight, he takes a deep breath, then charges in and starts winging punches. He got the worst of those exchanges, but he still kept throwing. I don't know how long he plans to fight in the UFC, but he cant continue fighting like that.

What do you guys think he needs to work on?

Any opinions on the fight? Enjoyable?

Discuss
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Like you said, during those exchanges he got the worst of them. Should kick more atlest in this fight, those worked (atlest better than the wild punching he seemed to prefer).

Movement, should look what Gus did against Jones and Cruz does, circling and headmovement, since he likes to use his boxing it seems. Few kicks and takedown attempts or takedown fakes wont hurt either.

His fights are entertaining but dont think he wins any fights against top guys with the gameplan he had against Melendez.
 
Sanchez has a good chance at beating brawlers with his style, but he'll be in deep waters versus any well-rounded top LW.

Unless of course his top LW opponent throws his own game plan out the window and ends up trading blows, which will leave Sanchez with a puncher's chance.

That being said, he comes to fight and leaves it all in the octagon. He's got a secure job with the UFC for as long as he continues to fight.
 
He will be a contender in the paralympics if he doesn't get his shit together.
 
He is too flat footed when he strikes. I think Joe Rogan made a point of this.
 
K-1 diego is not really effective. he needs to be the nightmare he once was, overpowering opponents and pounding them on the ground. plus, he's got scar tissue all over his face, he cant afford to be in standup wars like those.
 
If Sanchez goes on a losing streak he stands a good chance of being Leonard Garcia, an entertaining fighter who has no place among the elite. I've always liked watching him fight but he isn't evolving like the rest of mma.
 
0vary hugger said:
He will be a contender in the paralympics if he doesn't get his shit together.
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Sad but true. Dude's going to end up punch drunk with a mouthful of cotton, he's been in too many wars. He's brave as hell but he wasn't close to competitive with Melendez for 14 minutes of that fight. One nice uppercut doesn't justify a beating like what he took.
 
he doesn't need to work on anything diego was a guy w/a high floor and low ceiling; he already hit his limit as far as what he can do. BJ penn said it when he fought him, diego.. like forrest griffin and chris leben, got further than he should have because of his mental toughness and work ethic. Based on pure ability and iq diego was never gonna be a force as a mma fighter; he just is very tough...very active...very determined and well conditioned, he was never a truly tech or strategical guy. His approach was built around his limitations much more so than his strengths, cause he has so many damn limits; he is kinda like garcia, a guy who is what he is and isn't gonna be much diff regardless of the coaching-training he gets..maybe minor improvements. But never really any dramatic changes or adjustments as a fighter, diego is pretty much the same guy he was when he came in; a little better here and there but still a avg (at best striker) a avg (at best wrestler) and very good grappler w/ a high motor phys durability and a big heart.

its not enough against the best and never was gonna be..i like dude..but facts are facts
 
Azalean420 said:
He is too flat footed when he strikes. I think Joe Rogan made a point of this.
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Or maybe his problem is that he just stays stationary and throws predictable alternating hooks. His head doesn't move an inch, and his punches don't change.

I think he actually caught Gilbert in the last round because it was the first time he threw something after the left hook that wasn't a right hook. His striking has gotten worse since his early lightweight days. He used to be a very solid fighter.

Edit: I mean, holy shit, watch his fight with Clay Guida.

http://www.fightvideomma.com/2009/06/diego-sanchez-vs-clay-guida-fight-video.html

He's completely regressed from where he was at that point. His head was moving when he punched, he came in behind a jab, he threw uppercuts to counter Guida's posture... What happened to this dude?
 
He is a pretty bad striker technically. He doesn't move his head when he strikes while Gilbert did he he literally didn't hit anything during most exchanges while getting hit. His hooks are not only wild but predictable and again he ahs no defence while exchanging. When he knocked down Melendez he for the first time in the fight threw an uppercut and I think a straight punch it would have even helped him if he just threw shorter hooks while moving his head/blocking with the other hand.
He is just a really really limited striker technique wise
 
devante said:
he doesn't need to work on anything diego was a guy w/a high floor and low ceiling; he already hit his limit as far as what he can do. BJ penn said it when he fought him, diego.. like forrest griffin and chris leben, got further than he should have because of his mental toughness and work ethic. Based on pure ability and iq diego was never gonna be a force as a mma fighter; he just is very tough...very active...very determined and well conditioned, he was never a truly tech or strategical guy. His approach was built around his limitations much more so than his strengths, cause he has so many damn limits; he is kinda like garcia, a guy who is what he is and isn't gonna be much diff regardless of the coaching-training he gets..maybe minor improvements. But never really any dramatic changes or adjustments as a fighter, diego is pretty much the same guy he was when he came in; a little better here and there but still a avg (at best striker) a avg (at best wrestler) and very good grappler w/ a high motor phys durability and a big heart.

its not enough against the best and never was gonna be..i like dude..but facts are facts
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not sure I agree with this. The guy is no Anderson Silva, but there are def some things he could work on to be a contender. As he fights now, he is never going to get a W against anyone, and is going to just be a FOTN fighter. He threatened Gilbert with nothing stand up wise, but Gilbert is not some standup genius either. If he would just fight more like a boxer, he could get some wins under his belt. The guy is still young, has a shit load of cardio and heart，so he can contend if he fights different.


Edit: I hate that little up down jerky movement thing that he does. WTF?
 
Bay Area said:
not sure I agree with this. The guy is no Anderson Silva, but there are def some things he could work on to be a contender. As he fights now, he is never going to get a W against anyone, and is going to just be a FOTN fighter. He threatened Gilbert with nothing stand up wise, but Gilbert is not some standup genius either. If he would just fight more like a boxer, he could get some wins under his belt. The guy is still young, has a shit load of cardio and heart，so he can contend if he fights different.


Edit: I hate that little up down jerky movement thing that he does. WTF?
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i dind't mean he had nothing to work on, i meant he is what he is and hasn't shown a penchant for tech growth or development; he has consistently had good coaching throughout his career and honestly he isn't much better than he was when he came into the ufc. The main difference is he is willing to stand/exchange/press people than he did earlier when he was always looking to get guys down and beat them up on the ground; now he will open up and exchange freely on the fight, which may also be because of the fact he rarely can cleanly take anyone down consistently ..an that may force him to have to push the issue striking.

but seriously how much better has diego gotten since his win over riggs or his loss to penn; he fights the same way, and hasn't really improved defensively, in regards to counters or in regards to efficient/diverse offense. And everytime he has faced a guy w/a solid set of striking skills, he has gotten handled on the feet; an on three occasions he got beat the f*ck up, the penn loss he was beat half to death and stopped..the win over kampmann he got smacked all around the cage...the loss to melendez he got beat w/in an inch of his life.

his biggest weapon is his durability, his aggression, his conditioning and the pace he sets; he usually breaks guys downs w/a combination of these things striking and grappling, but against the better guys he often just gets outclassed and beat the f*ck up.

melendez isn't great; but he looks a whole hell of alot better than he did 4-5yrs ago for one, and he has held his own/been competitive on the feet w/thomson..he outhustled and outstruck jorge masidival (one of the better strikers (boxers) in mma)...not to mention being very competitive w/henderson.. Gilbert still isn't some technician but he has shown progression def, off and in regards to counters; early on diego and gil could be considered very similar, look how much of a gap is between them no and the majority of it pertains to standup
 
I was just thinking that the two of them were REALLY determined to get "FOTN" n didnt care for the W



I was suprised that Gil obliged Diego with this madness also :D




Edit* I was pretty buzzed out by the time this fight came around(drinking early watching hockey),and by the 3rd round i just kept yelling "Oh! Fight Of The Night!...Called it months ago!" :D
 
I find Diego incredibly painful to watch. I know it might go against the majority but I found that a frustrating unenjoyable fight to watch. Yeah he landed a nice uppercut and almost took a surpise victory but really I felt I was watching a game but well outclassed toughman competitor who fights with his face.

Gil is a good boxer, a capable counter puncher with good timing. Every Sanchez attack was the same, he'd just charge forward throwing alternate left and rights. It was so predictable so Gil had the timing and the distance sorted after the very second volley in the very first round. And he had the speed advantage too. Diego never came in at an angle, never feinted and attacked with mostly the same offence every time while leaving himself wide open for counters.

Diego has no fight intelligence. The times he did have success were the only times he changed up his attack. So he landed some good body kicks and some decent low kicks and of course that uppercut near the end. He needs to go train with Golden Glory or something because he is just stuck in the mud at this point in his career.
 
devante said:
i dind't mean he had nothing to work on, i meant he is what he is and hasn't shown a penchant for tech growth or development; he has consistently had good coaching throughout his career and honestly he isn't much better than he was when he came into the ufc.
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The thing is, Diego is so bad as a striker, that he can do nothing but improve. He is not boxing in there... nothing he is doing looks like a boxing skill set. He is stiff, doesn't move his head, charges forward in a straight line, arm punches. If he would get a proper boxing coach, and drill these things over an over, he would improve. Aside from some sort of learning disability.
 
Uchi Mata said:
Sad but true. Dude's going to end up punch drunk with a mouthful of cotton, he's been in too many wars. He's brave as hell but he wasn't close to competitive with Melendez for 14 minutes of that fight. One nice uppercut doesn't justify a beating like what he took.
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Well Dana praised him for his display on Saturday, and apparently he wants all of his guys to fight like that. Just bleed, take 10 shots to get 1 shot in, go out on your shield, stand and bang until you drop.
 
Discipulus said:
He's completely regressed from where he was at that point. His head was moving when he punched, he came in behind a jab, he threw uppercuts to counter Guida's posture... What happened to this dude?
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Really? I thought he looked awful against Clay
 
Bay Area said:
Well Dana praised him for his display on Saturday, and apparently he wants all of his guys to fight like that. Just bleed, take 10 shots to get 1 shot in, go out on your shield, stand and bang until you drop.
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Of course Dana wants that. It is exciting for everybody, especially the casual fans. The problem for fighters is they are the ones who will have brain damage for the rest of their lives, not Dana. It's really easy for him to say yeah put it on the line like that. And you cannot compete with top talent fighting like that. Gilbert won 14 minutes of that fight. Yes, Diaz almost pulled it off, but he is going to lose the majority of fights with the top dogs with that approach.
 
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