Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez snapped a two-fight losing streak at UFC Fight Night 42 last night, though he seems to be in a very small minority of those who believe he deserved the split-decision victory over Ross Pearson.
At the post-fight press conference, Sanchez was adamant that he earned the close decision, even though literally every member of the mixed martial arts media scored the bout for "The Real Deal," per MMA Fighting.
He was a fun fight. I'd fight him any day of the week," Sanchez said of Pearson. "Ain't no haters going to rob me of my joy right now, my victory. This was a great night for me. I thought I won the fight, 100 percent. So did the judges. Yeah, it's my hometown, but the judges came and did their job. Some reporters can say this, say that. I'm the original guy. I've dealt with this all my career.
While it goes without saying that the English striker disagreed with the final result, Sanchez was happy to publicly let Pearson know that he has no problem signing on for a five-round rematch.
@RossTheRealDeal if @ufc wants us to do it again I'm down any time any place make it a 5 rounder. #Iwonthefight
— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) June 8, 2014
While Pearson did not respond to the tweet, he stated at the post-fight press conference that he would "100 percent" fight Sanchez if that's what the fans and the UFC want.
The 15-minute affair, which served at UFC Fight Night 42's co-headlining bout, saw Pearson avoid getting into any signature brawls with Sanchez, instead picking his shots and landing clean counters at will.
As a matter of fact, Pearson caught Sanchez flush with a big right hand in the second round, dropping the extremely durable "Nightmare."
Despite this fact, judge Jeff Collins inexplicably scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Sanchez, giving many pundits the impression he saw a different fight than everyone else.
In case you missed it, check out the Sanchez vs. Pearson fight highlights to get an idea of how the matchup went down.
Would a potential 25-minute part II between Sanchez and Pearson be the way or to go, or would the UFC be better off just pretending this decision never happened?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
