[DanC]

Originally Posted by Sakara=Excitement

Alessio Sakara signs four-fight contract extension with UFC - MMA Fighting



*I've always wanted to note that Alessio is one of the current, longest tenured fighters in the UFC being with them the last 7 years. Not many fighters can claim that.

This is great news. Sakara is - as a bunch of other guys have said - always involved in great fights. I think that, aside from this, it makes a lot of sense for the UFC to keep Sakara on the books.

Firstly, he hasn't really lost 3 fights in a row. I'm sure that, whilst the strikes to Cote were illegal, the UFC brass understand that in the heat of the moment these things happen, and the strikes weren't intentional. Plus, I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to see Sakara and Cote go to war again to settle the score and sort the whole mess out, right?

Secondly - as we've seen with guys like Dan Hardy - the UFC can shoe-horn its way in to emerging markets if fans have homegrown talent to get behind. Sakara - with his exciting style and veteran experience - would be a great guy to keep around for when the time comes for the UFC to take a trip to Italy, which according to this article (Italy Then Finland for European Expansion Plans Says UFC's Zelaznik) might not be too far in the future.