The Celtic Kid entered his bout against Diego Sanchez Saturday evening in Fight Island having won each of his past two decisions. For Aussie Jake Matthews, that gave him a bigger stage to work with during UFC 253.
Matthews, 26, more than showed why he could very well be the next rising star in the welterweight division. He absolutely dominated Sanchez throughout their three-round bout, landing almost three times as many significant strikes than his counterpart while taking Sanchez to the mat in brutal fashion.
All of the blood. It’s pretty crazy that referee Jason Herzog didn’t stop the bout right there.
What does UFC 253 win mean for Jake Matthews?
Matthews’ last outing this past February against Emil Meek came after he took out Rostem Akman a year ago October. Matthews is now 17-4 in his professional career, including a 10-4 mark in the UFC. There’s now a good chance that he will be ranked in the top-15 of the welterweight division moving forward.
Brutal loss for Diego Sanchez
Since losing to B.J. Penn for the lightweight championship back in 2009, it has been downhill for Sanchez. He’s now 6-8 in his past 14 fights. Any thought given to the idea that Sanchez could soon go up against Conor McGregor can now be thrown out the window.