Sanchez-Ellenberger UFC On FUEL TV-1 (Feb 15, 2012)

Don't forget that this is a Wednesday broadcast...

Amazing freaking card for a mid weak, free event. This should be fun.

Main Card (Fuel TV)
Jake Ellenberger favorite (-345) over Diego Sanchez (+275)
Dave Herman favorite (-150) over Stefan Struve (+120)
Aaron Simpson favorite (-122) over Ronny Markes (-108)
Stipe Miocic favorite (-400) over Phillip De Fries (+300)
TJ Dillashaw (-300) favorite over Walel Watson (+240)

Preliminary card (Facebook)
John Albert vs. Ivan Menjivar
Jonathan Brookins vs. Vagner Rocha
Sean Loeffler vs. Buddy Roberts
Anton Kuivanen vs. Justin Salas
Bernardo Magalhaes vs. Tim Means

 

I hope Ellenberger KO's Diego.

 

I like the first 2 fights, the rest is garbage imo

 

I am looking forward to the Brookins/Rocha fight. Personally, for free tv I wouldn't call any of it garbage. But I also watch ammy mma here locally too. artie:

 

Free MMA is good MMA.

 

Agree. There's nothing garbage about any part of this free card. Each fight has merit and the card is loaded with either young, promising talent or middle of the pack guys trying to make a push to rank up.

I love these kinds of events. But again, I'm the type that used to watch an hour and a half of shit sports on Wide World of Sports just to get to the Bazooka Limon-Bobby Chacon fight.

 

this is simply not true, there's all kind of ''free'' boxing fights being shown, in fact, far more than MMA let alone UFC. Just ESPN FNF probably shows more free boxing fights alone than the UFC does ( mma fights in their case of course ).


But just as I don't care for most FNF fights, unless their's a proven name or a very intersting prospect, I don't care too much about these fights save from the main and co main event.

 

Garbage may have been too harsh, as I'm not too familiare with the names except for the top 2 fights, and the one I know don't impress me too much ( Bookins for example ). The Markes-Simpson fight is decent. But I just don't have time for non elite talent except if it's a local name ( like Menjivar who I would have like to see), and none of these other guy's have really the potential to be a factor from what I've seen of them. Also, I don't watch TUF so a lot of these guy's are pretty much unknown to me


EDIT : And while I don't know either Miocic or DeFries, I saw that one beat Beltran and the other Broughton so it's indeed an interesting prospect fight

 

i know jake's a strong favorite going in, but i have feeling that diego's going to turn it into a war and somehow win a close decision.

i highly doubt that ellenberger's going to blast him out like he did to shields.

anyways, should be a good fight.

 

If Sanchez gets stopped from strikes, it'll be because of the previous accumulation of punishment over the years from people like Penn, Koscheck and Kampmann. The guy may be a bit odd, but he's got guts and comes to fight. He's an action fighter who always looks for a way to win.

I see Diego losing, but his own aggressiveness will dictate whether it is by close decision or wide. My guess is he loses by scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29, a split decision.

 

:scratcher:

never understood this way of thinking, guess you don't value your time as much as I do.

anyway the card is decent , might catch it if I don't have anything better to do.

 

Or maybe he's a fan of MMA.

For an avid MMA fan, this is a fun, mid-week show.

Regarding time? I DVR these events and can watch them in an hour or so. Again, for an avid MMA fan, that's a decent way to spend an hour.

 

I'll be home relaxing after working all day anyway so I may as well watch some free MMA. If there was Boxing on tonight instead I'd watch that too.

 

:rock1:

 

the way he recovered from the opening seconds of the penn fight was simply amazing. and that knee he took from that british kid would've knocked most guys out cold.

but you're right, he's taken a lot of punishment and it might catch up to him.

i guess i was in the minority of those who thought that sanchez eaked out that win over kampmann but he sure went through fire in doing so.

 

I don't get the Sanchez hate. He's a warrior, and pretty fun to watch, he comes to fight and never quits.

I agree though, he sure has taken some punishment. Defense isn't his strong suit.

 

i think a lot of folks disliked him leading up to the first koschek fight. i started to be a fan of his since his fight vs. fitch where i thought he gave his best effort in submission attempts despite being outwrestled and losing a close decision.

either way, he brings a lot of intensity and is hardly ever in a bad fight.

 

I thought he won the Kampmann fight as well, but it was so close. Kampmann is still pissed off about that fight. He did take a thumping though. Dana wants guys like Diego, who give it their all---win or lose.

I was interested to find out that when he fought Clay Guida, Guida admitted the kick to the face put his lights out momentarily and then they came back on.

That's how Diego stopped Riggs---with the headkick and then the followup when Riggs was on the ground, so Diego stopped Riggs, but he couldn't stop Guida with the headkick. Guida is a tough bastard.

 

It's because he does stuff like scream YES! on his way into his fights and he tries to act like a badass, but it comes across as kind of funny and stupid. The more seriously he takes himself, the worse he looks.

 

that 'YES' thing is from motivational therapy he received from tony robbins. i thought that shit was hilarious especially when he fought penn.

 

I like Sanchez. No question. The dude always comes to fight and can't remember a fight where he hasn't been fun to watch. Even getting layed on by Jon Fitch was fun because Diego never quit trying to work his BJJ.

Honestly, Sanchez has been in a ton of great fights. His fights with Parisyan, Stevenson, Guida, Thiago and Kampmann are all among some of the better fights in UFC history.

I expect to see another burner tonight. Diego has been off for a year with a hand injury. I doubt we will see any lingering effects from his wars. We should be treated to another Sanchez blood bath.

But make no mistake, Ellenberger is probably ONE win away from being in the top 4 or 5 at the weight. I suspect a win tonight and Jake gets a rematch with Condit while Carlos waits for GSP to get back. I am one of those that thought he got robbed against Condit the first time.

 

Diego's different. When he first came to the UFC, he won TUF and was a muscular 185lbs. Then he dropped to 170, and then again to 155 where he looked stringy. Since then he's gone up and down in weight, but he's never looked visually as impressive as he did when he hammered Kenny Florian.

Weird.

 

Isn't it funny when you think back about that first season of TUF and the middleweights. None of the 4 semi finalist really had any business at 185. Leben, Sanchez, and Koscheck should all be at 170 as they are now. And Florian, hell, he probably should have been at 145 all along.

It's probably why there was so much drinking and partying on that season of TUF. None of the middleweights had to worry about hitting 185.

 

actually, i take that back. i dont see sanchez winning a close decision considering the location of where the fight's taking place. i doubt they'd rob jake in his hometown. either way, i see a grueling fight for both guys. if sanchez doesnt get KOed in the first round (which i dont see happening due to his incredible survival instincts), it's going to be a real test of attrition for ellenberger.

 

the thing about sanchez is that he does nothing great. not the best wrestler, not the best BJJ player, nor the best striker, but he manages to grind out close fights based on his ultimate will power and intensity. he was clearly the inferior striker than kampmann, but somehow took him to the limit even in stand up and buckled him on a few occasions. he face was a bloody mess, but he virtually walked through most of those punches and hurt kampmann which i thought won him the last two rounds.

in terms of striking and wrestling, he's again the guy w/ less physical talent/skill heading into tonight's bout, but he makes it up w/ endurance and refusal to wilt.

 

After the beatings he took against Penn and Kampmann, Sanchez has to be listed among the toughest guys in the sport.

How many guys would keep pressing like he did for 5 rounds against Penn? And if not for the cut, I guarantee you he would have been standing at the end of the fight.

I like your take on the fight. I don't see Ellenberger blasting Diego out quickly. Nor do I see Jake easily out striking Sanchez. It should be fun.

 

underrated fight. Thiago looked good early on, but Diego just grinded him down.

I kind of like him now too, I used to think he was an idiot back in the day.

 

he looked much leaner than he did vs. kampmann at yesterday's weigh-in. i doubt inactivity is going to be much of a factor. plus, look at all of his fights since the guida war, he's lost the first round of each fight vs. penn, hathaway, thiago and kampmann. it will be interesting if he survives the first round, which i think he will.

 

Leben dropped down to 170??? I think you confusing him with Marquardt, Leben last fight was vs Munoz and was then suspended for taking pain killers.