Who had a better prime, Cowboy Cerrone or Diego Sanchez?

[Osiris3657]

As we all know, these former teammates are fighting one another on May 8th.

Cowboy has had less success over his last 5 fights compared to Diego but Cowboy has faced wayyy better competition.

Cowboy (0-4-1): Last fight was a draw with Niko Price, and before that lost a UD to Pettis (bad decision IMO), and was finished by strikes to Conor, Gaethje, and Tony...

Sanchez (3-2): Decision losses to Matthews and Chiesa, with wins (DQ over Peirera, UD over White, and TKO over Gall)

I'd be shocked if Cowboy doesn't win this fight.

In regards to their primes:
Both guys have fought for the LW title, with Diego losing to Penn and Cowboy to RDA. That 8 fight winning streak for Cowboy in between the losses to RDA has some nice names in it (Henderson, Alvarez, Barboza, Miller). Diego had a 4 fight winning streak after dropping down from WW to face Penn.

1) Who had the better prime?
2) Who would have won in a matchup if they were fighting in their prime?
3) Who wins on May 8th?

 

[Luthien]

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

1. Sanchez
2. Cerrone
3. Cerrone

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Diego IMO from his WW fights to his first stint at LW was a better fighter IMO than Cerrone during his prime but Diego's prime was longer ago and split in 2 divisions so I expect more votes for Cerrone.

Sanchez had a better peak, Cerrone had a longer prime. I went with Diego since I thought the OP meant better peak.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I would say Cowboy, more multi-faceted than Diego was. I fucking love Diego though.

 

[TheMessiah]

I think a young Sanchez who smashed Diaz and Florian would dominate Cerrone who doesn't deal well with pressure

 

[Southpaw_27]

Both had very good careers but I'd give the edge to Donald. He also fought for the LW title multiple times in WEC against future UFC LW champ Bendo (fight of the year in 2009) and another tough out in Jamie Varner. Also holds the most fight of the night awards for WEC.

 

[Deleted member 465145]

Dude, it’s Cerrone by ten miles. That’s not even a fair question

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Cowboy.

 

[Osiris3657]

Dude, it’s Cerrone by ten miles. That’s not even a fair question

....do you even read? 4 out of the first 5 replies were for Sanchez. Clearly it's not as lopsided as you think

 

[Kos Fan]

Nightmare was the better fighter but Cowboy has the better career by far. But holy shit I didn’t know these guys were fighting.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Dude, it’s Cerrone by ten miles. That’s not even a fair question

You clearly werent watching MMA during Diegos prime. He wasnt the one dimensional bar brawler hes been in the 2010s in his prime. He was one of the best grapplers in the sport with some nasty knees and clinch game.

 

[Deleted member 465145]

....do you even read? 4 out of the first 5 replies were for Sanchez. Clearly it's not as lopsided as you think

Oh shit I guess I read the wrong thing

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

Cerrone, It is a fact

 

[ninja boot]

I vote Cerrone.
I can't discredit Diego's willingness to leave it all in the cage but his fighting style is the blueprint for CTE and despite winning he is going to lose in the long run,

 

[r-harper-1]

Cerrone imo ....But the Diego that beat Karo and Nick Diaz was a dangerous man

 

[Poser Caust]

With the right judges Diego was unbeatable

 

[bigmacbub]

I'm a big fan of both but i think styles makes fights and Diego's pressure could a have made Cerrone wilt in their primes of course.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Cowboy had a better career. Diego peaked slightly higher.

Something like, on a scale of 1-10, Cowboy got up to 8 several times. Deigo hit 9 once. Then Kos knocked him down to 6

 

[ROBOCOP]

I feel like I missed something very amazing here. Are they signed to fight? If so, when is this happening? Also, awesome question from ts. If you really followed both of their careers it makes this a challenging and intriguing question. I give the slight edge to cerrone due to climbing to the top a few more times than diego was able to.