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UFC:

Sanchez on deck

UFC lightweight could lock up title shot with win Saturday

Sanchez

Associated Press

Diego Sanchez, right, fights Joe Stevenson of U.S. during a lightweight bout at the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the O2 Arena in London on Feb. 21, 2009. Sanchez, beat Stevenson, and will face Clay Guida this Saturday in the main event of “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale at the Pearl at the Palms.

Diego Sanchez has seen enough Clay Guida fights to know that at some point in their Saturday night contest at the Pearl at the Palms, the aggressive lightweight is probably going to try to take him down.

If it happens, Sanchez has a little surprise for him.

"I will be anticipating a combination take-down shot from him at some point," Sanchez said. "And there will be a big left knee waiting for him right in the face."

Few fighters in the UFC look more ready to become a champion as Sanchez. Since emerging as the top middleweight in the first season of the reality television series "The Ultimate Fighter," he has accumulated a 9-2 record in the UFC.

Sanchez's skills have not gone overlooked, as the organization has hinted he will earn the next lightweight title shot with a win over Guida on Saturday. He would face the winner of the Aug. 8 title fight between B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian, who he's already defeated once in his career.

"Of course nothing is inked in paper, but it's common sense I would be next," Sanchez said. "If it's Kenny Florian people would want to see the guy that already beat up Kenny Florian. If it's B.J. Penn, me and him are always going to put on an exciting fight."

During his run through some of the best fighters in the UFC, Sanchez has trimmed himself into a bully of a 155-pound fighter.

According to the 27-year-old, his willingness to cut weight has made him a difficult match-up in the lightweight division.

"If you're going to be dominant in this sport, you're cutting weight," Sanchez said. "You can only get away with fighting as the lighter guy in a weight class for so long. That's what I was doing at 170 pounds. I'm bigger and stronger now than these other fighters and Clay Guida is going to run into a freight train when he runs into me."

Not only has Sanchez worked to cut his weight down, he's continued adding moves to his arsenal.

Just this month he was promoted to a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Saulo Ribeiro.

"I've always been a good submission grappler, but I've still evolved, upped my skills and I continue to get better every day," Sanchez said. "I train with the best in the world and it's been an awesome experience. I'm not in a rush to become a black belt because I want to be a real black belt, not a paper black belt."

His dedication has left him a confident fighter, a quality the crowd should see for itself when Sanchez enters the Octagon on Saturday.

After a long four-year journey through three weight classes, anything Guida is planning to attack him with doesn't scare Sanchez.

"I've trained my butt off," Sanchez said. "I know Clay is going to have a high pace going but when people fight me like that it brings out the best in me. I love fighting in the transition, I like to fight in the scramble. I feel very confident that I'll come out victorious."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].

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