Thiago Alves vs Diego Sanchez Set for UFC 89?

MMAWeekly.com is reporting tonight that the camps for both Alves and Sanchez have verbally agreed to a fight at UFC 89, and that the fight will be officially announced within the next couple of days. This fight would be taking place on October 18th in Birmingham, England, and would likely be the co-main event along with Bisping vs Leben.

This would be a spectacular fight, and MMA fans can only hope that these rumors are true.

It is widely thought that Alves is the next in line for a shot at the Welterweight title (after Jon Fitch). If he were to win this fight, then there would be no question that he would get the next shot at the title. I am sure that MMA fans would salivate at the thought of a GSP / Alves fight.

For Sanchez, the road to a title shot might require another stop. I am not sure that a win over Alves would guarantee that Sanchez would be the next in line for a shot at the welterweight title. If Josh Koscheck beats Chris Lytle this weekend (which is widely expected), then you would have to include Koscheck in the discussion for worthy #1 contenders to the title. I think if Alves wins, then he will fight the winner of the St. Pierre / Fitch fight next. If Sanchez wins, then he will probably have to fight Koscheck, assuming that Koscheck beats Lytle. If Alves and Koscheck both lose their next fights, then who knows?

Thiago Alves has a professional MMA record of 15-3-0. He has won his last six fights in a row and eight of his last nine - his most recent fight was a second round pummeling of Matt Hughes at UFC 85 - Bedlam. Prior to that, Alves efficiently dispatched of Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle and Tony DeSouza. Alves seems to be on a collision course with Georges St. Pierre.

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez has a career MMA record of 19-2-0. He has won his last two fights, with his most recent victory coming against Luigi Fioravanti at the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale. He was previously in the discussions for a possible shot at the Welterweight title before he lost to both Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. Sanchez is now attempting to work his way back up to a shot at the title, and Thiago Alves is standing directly in his way.

As mentioned, this would be a spectacular fight and would certainly help to attract the North American PPV buyers. Let's hope that the rumors become a reality.

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