Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Matthews Prediction, UFC 253 Card Odds

Jeremy Perry
September 24, 2020

Diego Sanchez might have never made it to champion status but The Nightmare is a bit of a legend in the sport. Fighting in the UFC since 2005, he’s been in plenty of entertaining bouts. He’s now 38 years old, though, and is in the twilight of his career.

He’s in the midst of a downslope and isn’t even on the main card on Saturday. He’s a massive +575 underdog – the biggest on the entire card – but can he surprise here? The UFC odds board has Jake Matthews at -750.

Diego Sanchez UFC 253 Odds

Although Diego Sanchez is clearly not the fighter he used to be, he has still fought valiantly to maintain his place in the UFC. From 2013 to 2017, he was just 3-6 with three of the losses coming via knockout, and many people felt that was the end for him. However, he’s actually turned things around quite impressively, winning three of his last four bouts. The concern is that he lost in July of 2019 and then won in February of 2020 only because his opponent, Michel Pereira, was disqualified for using illegal knees.

His wins have also come against somewhat low-end competition, for lack of a better way to put it, as he isn’t exactly fighting the best of the best. This fight against Jake Matthews will be a test because it could be the best fighter he’s faced in a while. Sanchez has the heart of a lion but at age 38, this might be too much of an ask for him to win this bout.

The one major edge he has here is experience. He has 42 fights under his belt and he knows his way around the Octagon. He’ll have to use that to his advantage if he wants to have a shot here.

Jake Matthews UFC 253 Odds

Jake Matthews is a 26-year-old welterweight who is seemingly on the rise in the UFC. He’s actually been with the promotion since 2015 and after some early hiccups – just 2-3 in his first five fights – he has rebounded wonderfully. Matthews has won five of his last six bouts and comes into this fight with plenty of momentum.

Sanchez is the more gifted of the two fighters when standing, so it would be wise for Matthews to take this to the ground. That’s more his comfort zone as he’s won seven of his 16 fights via submission. Matthews deserves some credit for being versatile – especially given how his last two fights played out. In his win over Emil Meek, he had 17 fewer strikes but four takedowns, and then in his win over Rostem Akman, he had more strikes than his opponent. Even so, he’d rather avoid brawling with Sanchez. If he can take him down, he’ll probably win.