Sanchez vs. Hathway
One of the featured bouts of UFC 114 is a welterweight contest between Diego Sanchez and John Hathaway.
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Sanchez enters this fight as the clear favorite with a betting line of -230 according to online sports book Sportsbook.com. Hathaway comes in with a line of +180. Here is a closer look at both fighters heading into this main card bout, which will take place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, beginning at 10PM ET live on pay-per-view.
Diego Sanchez (21-3):
Strengths: Sanchez is a bit of a maniac that likes to come in to fights very aggressive. He has some of the best conditioning in the sport and uses that to pace a frantic pace that often tires out his opponents. Sanchez is solid with his wrestling and has developed good submission and striking as his career has moved along.
Weaknesses: Like a lot of top-level fighters that aren’t quite elite, Sanchez lacks superiority in any major areas of fighting. His cardio is great, but it’s not the best. His striking is solid, but it’s not fast enough to compete with the likes of B.J. Penn. His wrestling is good, but he is undersized for welterweight. This fight marks Sanchez’ second run at welterweight, as he has failed to win the title in this division and the lightweight division.
Last Five Fights:
Fifth round TKO loss to B.J. Penna at UFC 107 on Dec. 12, 2009
Split decision win over Clay Guida at Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on June 20, 2009
Unanimous decision win over Joe Stevenson at UFC 95 on Feb. 21, 2009
Third round TKO win over Luigi Fioravanti at Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale on June 21, 2008
First round submission win over David Bielkheden at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008
John Hathaway (12-0):
Strengths: Hathaway is unbeaten in his young career and is 3-0 in the UFC. The England-native has shown good all-around skills in his career as he has won by a variety of ways, from TKO’s to submissions to decisions. Hathway has also proved difficult to do damage to, as he is unbeaten and also been able to go through 15-minute wars.
Weaknesses: Hathaway has yet to fight against someone the caliber of Sanchez, so this fight will show just where he stands among welterweight contenders. He also will get pushed to his conditioning limit in this fight, so we will see how he fights while fatigued. Sanchez has a way of beating his opponents mentally with his pace, so mental toughness will be important for Hathaway.
Last Five Fights:
Unanimous decision win over Paul Taylor at UFC 105 on Nov. 14, 2009
Unanimous decision win over Rick Story at UFC 99 on June 13, 2009
First round TKO win over Tom Egan at UFC 93 on Jan. 17, 2009
First round submission win over Jack Mason at CR 28 on Sept. 20, 2008
First round TKO win over Richard Griffin at ZTFN 12 on Aug. 30, 2008
Who will win: Coming off a big loss to Penn for the lightweight title in December, Sanchez should be eager to have a dominant win on Saturday. Look for him to come out aggressive and test Hathaway’s grappling game early. Hathaway should put up a fight, but ultimately wilt to Sanchez’ relentless pressure. We like Sanchez to win by TKO late in round two.
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Posted: 5/29/10 3:55PM ET