Presented by UFC 239 on ESPN+
You know what makes a good fight card? Damn good fights, that’s what.
Understandably, that’s a rather vague, yet emphatic, description, but an enticing MMA event has all sorts of compelling matchups to offer a viewing audience, from title fights and grudge matches, to number-one-contender bouts and long-awaited returns by fighters who have been away from the sport. There may even be the occasional champion vs. champion matchup on the card. It’s a rare occurrence and reserved for only the most special events; the upcoming UFC 239 Pay Per View main card on ESPN+ has them all.
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Slated for Saturday, July 6, during the UFC’s annual International Fight Week, the UFC 239 fight card is what folks in the business like to casually refer to as “stacked.” However, this is no hyperbole. Just ask UFC welterweight Michael “Maverick” Chiesa, who faces promotional stalwart and soon-to-be UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez to open up the UFC 239 main card.
“You got longtime light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones finally getting the chance to fight at T-Mobile [Arena] … you got Thiago Santos — as of late the guy’s shown raw power … on a great win streak,” explains Chiesa, who is fighting for the first time in 2019 after closing his 2018 campaign with a wicked one-armed kimura over Carlos Condit last December. “In my opinion, I think the real main event is Holly Holm against Amanda Nunes. You got Holly Holm, who dethroned the bantamweight queen, Ronda Rousey, a few years ago, and you got the double champ — champ champ — Amanda Nunes, coming back down in weight. This is like the one fight that we never saw. Everybody talked about, you know Holly’s kind of fought everybody, Amanda’s kind of fought everybody. These two people never touched each other, so it’s like, this is the fight to make, that’s the main event to me.”
When it comes to the UFC, Chiesa knows his stuff. Not only has he already fought inside the Octagon a dozen times, compiling an 8-4 record overall, but Chiesa’s recorded six submission victories and taken home five Performance of the Night bonuses. And, back in 2012, he earned the distinction of The Ultimate Fighter, winning the fifteenth season of the UFC’s reality TV tournament. He’s even done some work as an analyst and broadcaster, so take it from the “Maverick” when he says that his upcoming bout against Sanchez is a special type of champion-versus-champion fight.
“This is THEE Ultimate Fighter. This is THEE guy I want to lock horns with,” offers Chiesa, who was initially eyeing a ranked opponent to move up the welterweight ladder. “When they said ‘Diego Sanchez,’ I said yes without dropping a dime … the guy’s won his last two fights in a row. The last two guys he beat are huge welterweights — big, huge guys. The guy’s tough. I just want to fight The Ultimate Fighter. It’s a champion vs. champion fight, to me.”
To clarify, there have actually been more than 40 men and women to earn the title of The Ultimate Fighter, but, as Chiesa mentions, Sanchez was the very first one, earning the first six-figure UFC contract prize back in 2005, the same night that Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar delivered the fight that is credited with saving the UFC from extinction. In the years since, Sanchez has developed into a bit of a cult hero in the MMA space. He’s been up and down, counted out more times than most can remember, and yet he still continues to fight with passion and vigor. Chiesa relishes the opportunity to face such a well-regarded contemporary.
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“Ultimate Fighter vs. Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chiesa versus Diego Sanchez, TUF 1 vs. TUF 15,” continues Chiesa. I’m very proud that I came off the show. I’m very proud that I won The Ultimate Fighter, so you don’t really get a lot of opportunities to fight other guys that have won the show, and not only is it other guys that have won the show, but THEE guy that won the show, so I’m really excited for it.”
Like Sanchez, Chiesa is now fighting at welterweight after years as a lightweight. Sanchez, a former title challenger at 155 pounds, has actually bounced around divisions for the majority of his career, but Chiesa has no plans on changing divisions now. He’s found his true home at 170 pounds, and the new weight class has allowed him the time and space to concentrate on things other than crash dieting.
Rather than spending the majority of his training camp cutting weight, Chiesa has prepared for UFC 239 by focusing on skills and techniques. He’s also returned to his old vicious ways, or “just being a dog,” as he likes to say.
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“I’m better [now] because as my career’s gone on and I’ve gotten bigger, it’s taken away from what I’m good at,” adds Chiesa, whose fight against Sanchez kicks off the UFC 239 Pay Per View main card on ESPN+. “I used to be the guy that the longer the fight went, the better I got, and that last Anthony Pettis performance I went back and watched the fight and I’ve never seen myself crash so hard and so fast in a fight so you know, this is like I’m back to my old self.”
So buckle up, because Michael Chiesa and Diego Sanchez are bringing the fireworks on July 6, kicking off the UFC 239 main card that not only has two title fights at the top, but also features fights like the grudge match between Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal, and Luke Rockhold’s long-awaited light heavyweight debut versus Jan Blachowicz.
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