The sole remaining contestant on roster from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” has at least one fight left with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as the promotion announced the longtime UFC veteran Diego Sanchez will be fighting Craig White in a welterweight bout at UFC 228 in Dallas on Sept. 8.
Sanchez (27-11) was one of the two winners of that inaugural season of “TUF” and has gone on to fight 26 times for the promotion, including a challenge for B.J. Penn’s lightweight belt at UFC 107. However, “The Dream” has been brutally knocked out in three of his last four fights, with a lone victory against Marcin Held back in 2016 punctuating losses to Joe Lauzon and Al Iaquinta. He suffered another first-round knockout loss at the elbows of Matt Brown in his last fight.
White (14-8) made his UFC debut against perennial top-10 welterweight Neil Magny in May, losing by first-round knockout. “The Thundercat” will seek his first UFC victory while Sanchez finds himself in what is a likely must-win fight if he harbors any aspirations of remaining with the UFC.
Tyron Woodley will defend his UFC welterweight title against Darren Till in the night’s main event. UFC 228 will also feature the return of Yair Rodriguez, who takes on Zabit Magomedsharipov after a contract dispute with the promotion.