? @MoTownPhenom
drops @DiegoSanchezUFC
late in the third!#EagleFC46:
Lee vs. Sanchez | LIVE NOW on @EagleOnFLX
| Sign up to watch LIVE and FREE at https://t.co/QslxaipV9R pic.twitter.com/KfztaJCFMi— Eagle FC (@EagleFightClub)
March 12, 2022
Kevin
Lee‘s (19-7) stock has fallen a lot in the past few years.
The former can’t-miss prospect exited the
Ultimate Fighting Championship having lost four of his last
five fights, most recently a miserable decision loss to Daniel
Rodriguez. Nevertheless, he was expected to dominate a 40
year-old Diego
Sanchez (30-14), a man who seemed like he had no business
fighting for a while now, looking woefully out of shape and
offering little resistance in his last appearances.
Moreover, Sanchez had recently been hospitalized for Covid. The
expectation was that Lee would dominate him everywhere at
Eagle FC 46 in Miami, as he opened as a -400 favorite and
closed at an astronomical -4000. Yet, to everyone’s shock, Sanchez
beat Lee in on the feet for most of the fight. Despite being slow,
uncertain, and not always technical, Sanchez scored on a number of
kicks that hurt Lee. Most notably, Lee’s leg buckled in the first
round from a kick and was compromised for much of the bout. Sanchez
was at least even in the boxing with Lee, too, landing as many
punches as he took for the first two and a half rounds. Lee won the
first two frames with timely takedowns and ground-and-pound and
edged the third with a late knockdown, winning the bout 30-27 on
all three cards. However, it was far from impressive.
In the co-main event, defending
Eagle Fight Club heavyweight champion Rizvan
Kuniev (11-2-1) made quick work of UFC veteran Anthony
Hamilton (18-11). Kuniev scored on a gorgeous spinning back
roundhouse kick to the head, landed a thunderous knee to the chin,
and when Hamilton clinched, ended matters with a tight guillotine
choke that forced the tap just 77 seconds into the scheduled 5
rounder. It was one of two stoppages on the 11-bout card.
In another featured match-up, one-time UFC flyweight title
challenger Ray Borg (16-5)
won a close split decision against former Bellator
MMA contender Ricky
Bandejas (15-7) despite being a monster -1700 favorite.
Bandejas was able to stuff or get up against many of Borg’s
takedowns, and was better on the feet for the first two rounds. It
might have been some effective striking late in Round 3 by Borg,
including a punch that badly hurt Bandejas, which made the
difference in the contest.
Elsewhere, Handesson
Ferreira (18-3-1) dominated a game Zach
Juusola (12-8) en route to a dominant decision. Dagestani
prospect Raimond
Magomedaliev (10-1) triumphed via split decision over recent
UFC veteran Impa
Kasanganay (9-3), who missed weight by over 8 pounds, in a fun
grappling affair.
Another Dagestani fighter, Ikram
Aliskerov (12-1), whose only loss was to Khamzat
Chimaev, passed a stern test in well-traveled UFC and Bellator
veteran Nah-Shon
Burrell (19-12), who survived against a barrage of submission
attempts. Irwin
Rivera (11-6) got a TKO finish against Firdavs
Khasanov (6-4), Archie
Colgan (4-0) stayed undefeated with a one-sided verdict over
Dylan
Mantello (4-2) and Tyler Ray
(10-2) won a clear decision over Thomas Webb
(14-7). Despite being an underdog, Sitik
Muduev (11-3) completely dominated Caio
Rocha Uruguai (8-5) from bell to bell in impressive fashion,
and Ryder
Newman (4-1) won a split decision against Emmanuel
Walo (14-5-1), which this writer strongly disagreed with, as
Walo clearly won the first two stanzas.