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 defeat 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. 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 five-rounder. It was one of two stoppages on the 11-bout card.
In another featured matchup, 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 more than eight 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.
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