After Signing New Contract, Diego Sanchez Draws Myles Jury at UFC 171

Less than 24 hours after the UFC revealed that Diego Sanchez had signed a new eight-fight deal, Sanchez also has his next opponent.

UFC officials on Thursday morning announced that Sanchez would face newly minted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Myles Jury at UFC 171 on March 15 in Dallas.

Sanchez had been involved in a Twitter war with Conor McGregor, but the Irishman is on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury. The Dream had a target on Joe Lauzon should he defeat Mac Danzig at UFC on Fox 9 this weekend, but the UFC had other plans and put Jury in front of him.

Sanchez (24-6) is coming off of a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 166 in October, although he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision against former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

Jury (13-0) made his way to the Octagon via Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter. He lost a split decision to eventual runner-up Al Iaquinta in a fight on the show, but hasn’t lost in any official bouts.

Jury has won all four of his official UFC fights – defeating Mike Ricci, Ramsey Nijem, Michael Johnson, and Chris Saunders – but the fight with Sanchez will be the most significant threat to his unblemished record to date.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will put his belt on the line against Glover Teixeira in the UFC 171 main event.

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