UFC on FUEL: What is Left For Diego Sanchez?

Diego Sanchez fought a 3 round war against man of the hour, Jake Ellenberger last night in Omaha, Nebraska, and provided us with what he called a "dogfight". Their meeting won fight of the night honors and after taking a savage beating through 2 and a half rounds Diego eventually mounted some offence when he took Ellenberger's back on the ground and began raining down his trademark ground and pound. While this was a great moment for Sanchez and his many supporters, it does not signify - as many are claiming - that Diego would have gone on to win in a 5 round fight. Diego was lit up on the feet as he ran in with his trademark flurries and many of the moments where Ellenberger counter punched Sanchez could easily have been lifted straight from the BJ Penn fight at UFC 107.

Diego deserves enormous respect, he fought in front of possibly the most hostile crowd in UFC history who booed him at every opportunity, even after he had turned in a performance which was full of heart. Unfortunately he still showed all of the holes in his game that I commented on here. He still runs in with powerless flurries which either end in a predictable shot or a predictable high kick, and he still carries his lead hand down by his waste - SUICIDE for a southpaw. A good southpaw will never get jabbed, Diego seems to eat them non-stop. Additionally, while Diego has still never been knocked out, his chin is rapidly declining; the shots Ellenberger clipped him with throughout the bout made him stumble, roll his eyes or drop to his knees, while nothing that Sanchez threw on the feet even fazed Ellenberger.

Where then is Diego's place in the division? Clearly he is still tough enough to hang with the up and comers, and his win over Paulo Thiago showed that he can get the better of journeymen, particularly when he can force his game down their throats. However in 4 out of his last 5 matches Diego's holes have been exposed and punished - in the Penn, Hathaway, Kampmann and Ellenberger bouts his opponents were happy to walk him down, let him charge at them and take free counter punches all day. For all the emotional and physical excuses that supporters and promoters find for Sanchez, these strategies will work against his unchanging style on his best day. Intensity has turned to predictability, and you can set your watch by when Diego is going to charge in with a 2 - 3 - high kick / takedown combination.

If Diego is going to succeed in finding a place among the elite again, he is going to have to do something that he has never shown he is capable of doing before. Before every Sanchez fight we are told that his game is rapidly improving and that his hands are better than ever, but this is a flat out lie. If Diego cannot close up some of the holes in his kickboxing game and make his opponents actually afraid of his combinations again, he is unlikely to ever compete successfully in a division stacked with men who can stuff his takedown and easily edge out a win by punching whenever Diego punches. It is almost that simple to beat Diego at this stage - his head is completely upright on coming in and his chin sticks out ahead of him, almost leading the charge, Ellenberger, Penn and Kampmann could have closed their eyes, ducked and thrown a punch and they still would have gotten the better of 80% of the exchanges if Diego stuck to this.

Diego Sanchez has to make a choice now - whether he wants to reinvent himself and make another run at the top 10 of either the welterweight or lightweight divisions, or whether he is happy to put on "dogfights" but come out on the losing end as often as he wins. There is likely always going to be a place for him in the UFC, his exciting style helped the UFC a lot in it's weaker years, but it will be in a Chris Lyle / Spencer Fisher / Chris Leben capacity - putting on exciting fights at the lower end of the main card. Unfortunately what Diego will likely do is write this loss off to his injured ankles, find a new motivational speaker or deity to believe in, and come back with the same massive holes in his stand up. If the UFC wants to successfully get Diego back in the win column, it is important that they give him a one dimensional Jiu Jitsu player, or a pure striker with no takedown defence. Anyone who can strike technically and defend a takedown will do exactly the same thing that 4 out of his last 5 opponents did, countering him when he runs in, and eventually the excuses about motivation and injuries will stop carrying weight

Jack Slack now blogs at his brand new website www.fightsgoneby.com

He can also be found on Twitter @JackSlackMMA