Get excited fight fans because this is going to be one heck of a fight. On December 12 from Memphis, Tennessee, UFC 107 will see Diego Sanchez taking on a living legend in BJ Penn for the UFC lightweight championship belt.

Diego will be looking break the recent curse of Ultimate Fighter TV show alums faltering on the big stage as Kenny Florian was beaten soundly by Penn last month.

The story appeared on Sherdog.com after it was confirmed that the planned Rashad Evans-Rampage Jackson fight will not go down as originally planned.

Diego Sanchez won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and was known for his focused, spiritual side before fights that some took as a sign of his weirdness.

He confirmed that viewpoint for some people when he entered his fight against Joe Stevenson shouting “Yes! Yes!” repeatedly as he entered the arena at UFC 95.

But Sanchez is really an intelligent, hard-working, creative fighter and that’s part of what makes him so dangerous in the UFC.

He recently survived an all-out war with Clay Guida that might be a fight of the year candidate and earned him the respect of just about everyone to ever watch a UFC fight as he outlasted the maniacal “Carpenter.”
Now, Sanchez will face the biggest challenge of his career as he puts his 21-1-2 record on the line against Penn, considered to be one of the greatest lightweights of all-time.

Sanchez’s only two career losses have been to top-notch wrestlers in Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, and that is probably the only part of BJ Penn’s game that isn’t world-class, so many people think Sanchez has a shot to dethrone Penn.

Penn of course will have other ideas and he seemed reborn in his fight against Kenny Florian. He came out and dominated the entire fight, displaying improved strength and conditioning while maintaining his intense focus.

Penn’s record is 14-5-1 going into the fight with Sanchez as he tries to ruin another TUF fighter’s dream of climbing all the way to the top in the wake of his win over Florian.

Sanchez’s fight with Penn at UFC 107 is part of an eight-fight contract, which along with the wait for a decision on the Evans-Rampage fight, seems to explain the long wait for getting the fight with Penn set.

Sanchez had probably taken note of the relatively minuscule amounts guys like Gegard Mousasi ($2,000 for his Strikeforce light heavyweight title win over Renato Sobral) and Frank Mir ($45,000 at UFC 100 for his loss to Brock Lesnar) had received for their big-stage performances and wanted to make sure his manager ironed out a fair contract going into the biggest stretch of his MMA career.

Now, Sanchez can focus on the task at hand, which is important because it’s a big one. Knocking off Penn will not be easy, but the eyes of the MMA world will be upon him on December 12 at UFC 107 to see if he can make it happen.

This information is provided in partnership with BetUs Sportsbook

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