How did Diego Sanchez (unranked) get a fight with Gil (#2)?

[ReadWrite]

A split decision win over non-prime Gomi gets you #2? His previous win was a gift against Kampmann. He's not on a big win streak, and he hasn't looked lethal lately.

How the hell did this fight get set up?!! Why did Gil accept an unranked fighter? There isn't even any backstory of hatred. Gil gets nothing from this. It's a no-win fight.

Edit: Apparently this fight came about only because of Diego's lobbying. He didn't fight his way to it; he talked his way to it like Chael Sonnen.

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/5/16/4...s-gilbert-melendez-josh-thomson-nate-diaz-mma

Props for calling out top ranked fighters. Gil is lame for accepting. (Just like Thiago Silva accepted fight v. retired Hammill, Lol!)

 

[ali2013champ]

Gil gets huge paycheck for an easy fight.

 

[HHJ]

cos diego brings the PACE with him

none can stop it

it is barely survivable

 

[cyrusthevyrus]

it is a nice fight. two heart dudes. gil vs pettis for the title

 

[oswald1]

Joe Silva, nuff said

 

[RogerD]

Sanchez is a bigger name and more well known by casuals.
Fight makes perfect sense to me

 

[jiujitsuforever]

joe silva sniffing that cocaine like melvin guillard

 

[willthechill]

Gomi beat Diego. Sure, it isn't listed that way but he did.

Anyways, this is a good way to get Gil a win in the UFC over a recognizable former title challenger. He will probably get a shot if he wins or he'll need 1 more max.

 

[MikeCandler]

I agree the match up does not make a hole lot of sense. I think it has more to do with the fact Diego is a very recognizable name also even though the Kampmann and Gomi fights were questionable decisions he still "won".

At this point I think its a fight to make a name for Gil, that or Diego proves he is back in top form.

 

[HUGHPHUG]

sometimes entertaining fights win, don't always have to make sense to a bunch of rankers (sic)

 

[The Renegade]

Gil is going to make a name for himself off of diego, kind of like bigfoot made his off of Brown

 

[heavyarms21]

So he can be punished for the Gift decision he got against Gomi

 

[goforthefinish]

its more of a "safe" fight for Gil, which should be entertaining seeing how both fighters bring it. I remember a time Diego was the next hot shit prospect.

 

[Gerald Ford]

why wouldn't he get a fight with Gil ? Sanchez has done very well in the UFC and Gil is 0-1 in the UFC (debatable ), it will be a great fight though. I would like to see Sanchez win but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Jagan Eye]

Because rankings in MMA have always been and continue to be a figment of peoples' imagination as long as there isn't ONE body making the rankings for ALL MMA fighters.

 

[BuffaloEmperor]

i have no idea how this fight got booked. but on the flip side i believe that there are like 10 matchups lately that made no sense so it goes well with the recent trend.
*maybe UFC throwing Gilbert a bone b/c of the Bendo fight, and throwing diego to the wolfs b/c he got a lucky decision against Gomi.

 

[BukHumLae]

wud rather see gomi throw leather at gil
dunno how he got this

 

[CTYankee]

Entertainment factor.

 

[hydingjekyll]

They just need Melendez to get a win against someone he'll beat fairly easily, and Sanchez is a recognizable name, even if there's a huge ranking disparity. It's like when Matt Hughes first lost the title to Georges St. Pierre and his next fight was against Chris Lytle - they were just trying to hand the former champion an easy win to get him back to form. They expected the same from Liddell vs. Jardine.

 

[Jblizzle]

As far as the rankings go this is a pretty bad match up. The # 2 lightweight fighting a dangerous and extremely tough un ranked opponent.

But then I thought about their fighting styles and also remembered that they are both of Mexican decent so this a great match up to draw in more of these