Diego Sanchez 16-0
 

www.sherdog.com

August 18, 2006

Diego Sanchez (Pictures) cleared a major hurdle Thursday evening towards getting a UFC welterweight title shot, winning a unanimous decision over Karo Parisyan (Pictures) at the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The hard earned victory wasn’t easy for the Albuquerque, New Mexico native, who sampled a taste of the canvas several times in the contest after being on the wrong side of Parisyan’s amazing judo throws.

It wasn’t the Ultimate Fighter’s widely respected wrestling game that propelled him to the win — it was his underrated stamina that laid the foundation for his hand being raised in the most important main event of the scrappy welterweight’s career.

Entering the third stanza (with Sherdog.com scoring the fight a round apiece) Sanchez simply out-hustled Parisyan, digging deep with a workmanlike effort to solidify his name in the UFC’s 170-pound title picture.

Starting the final period with more gas in his tank than the man across from him, the fresh Sanchez went right to work with a straight right to the chin that briefly buckled Parisyan’s legs.

Never a fighter to show any weakness, Parisyan plugged forward and scored a double-leg takedown against the cage. In the defining moment of the bout, Sanchez quickly rose to his feet and executed a brilliant trip that put him in position to hop on his opponent’s back.

After dishing out some punishment to the back of Parisyan’s head and nearly securing a rear-naked choke, the TUF veteran found himself back on his feet after a skilled reversal courtesy of “The Heat.”

Sensing his stamina advantage, Sanchez pressed forward with crisp punches and four consecutive shots to the midsection before a knee ejected a tooth from the California fighter’s mouth into the atmosphere.

After being thrown to the floor by a judo technique for the fourth time in the bout, Sanchez hustled to gain top position and pound out a decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Nelson Hamilton and Marcos Rosales called it 29-28 and the often mentioned Glenn Trowbridge absurdly scored it 30-26.

“I believe I’m the best in the world. I still haven’t got to go out there and perform at my best, but I do think when the time is right, that’s when it’s right for me,” said Sanchez when asked if he was ready for a shot at the title.

i guess i was wrong.. diego won.. i thought the heat would prove to be to much for diego but i was wrong!

GSP or Matt Hughes will show the world how elite he aint.

Come off it. This is the second thread i've seen you talking shit.

Give credit where credit is due. He's earned it.

But wait, he was on a TV, therefore that nullifies every thing he will ever accomplish in his career.

Remember, these guys wouldn't be fighters if they weren't on TV. They all had no training and no professional experience before getting on TUF. None of them would ever be in the UFC had it not been for that show.

Sad thing is, some people actually believe that nonsense.

I'm no fan of Diego, but the guy won against a very strong fighter. And your nuts if you think none of these guys ever would have made it to the UFC on their own.

I was being facetious, which I though was obvious, and making fun of the fact of the fact that some people actually buy into that BS about the TUF guys (specifically season 1)

30-26??????????????

come on man what si wrong with judges these days...deigo won that fight but he didn't seserve a 30-26....29-28 is how I had it..I definatly don't think he won all three rounds

Yeah the 30-26 score was retarded. To win a round 10-8 you have to dominate start to finish...Karo came out strong but faded away.

I'm not a big fan of Diego either...but he earned my respect. That fight was AWESOME great standup, amazing ground work and sick judo throws....blood, teeth....what more can you ask for?

i could see someone giving a 30-27 in there, but 30-26 is ridiculous. i think 29-28 is the perfect score