Andre Soukhamthath faces a must-win fight on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 123 in Fresno, California, as he takes on Luke Sanders. Rarely does a fighter lose three straight fights and remain in the UFC, so Saturday’s bout for Soukhamthath is one he has to win. Soukhamthath is 11-5 in his career, but he is 0-2 in the UFC, with losses to Alejandro Perez and Albert Morales. Sanders comes into this fight with a record of 11-1, including 1-1 in the UFC. This fight is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a six-fight main card featuring Cub Swanson vs. Brian Ortega. Let’s take a look at Sanders vs. Soukhamthath.
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Luke Sanders (11-1, 1-1 UFC)
Sanders won his first 10 fights but all of the competition was at lower levels in organizations like XFC and RFA. Sanders made his UFC debut in January of 2016 and he submitted Maximo Blanco in the first round. Sanders could not follow up that win with another one, as he was submitted by Iuri Alcantara at UFC 209 in March.
Sanders has fought 12 times in his career and half of those fights ended in the first round. Sanders has six knockouts and two submission wins. The question we have with Sanders is just how good he is, as the win over Blanco tells us very little, while the loss to Alcantara is definitely concerning.
Andre Soukhamthath (11-5, 0-2 UFC)
Soukhamthath did really well in CES MMA, as he won the bantamweight championship but he has lost both of his UFC bouts. He lost a split decision to Albert Morales in March and he lost a split decision to Alejandro Perez in August. He will be taking this fight on short notice, as it was supposed to be Bryan Caraway taking on Sanders. Soukhamthath said to The Valley Breeze that he still believes he can be a top UFC fighter.
"It's obvious that I can hang with these guys – the best in the world. The last guy I fought, he was the Ultimate Fighter (Latin America Season 1) winner, and he was also fighting his sixth fight in the UFC. I obviously know my potential and I know what I can do.”
Soukhamthath realizes that he probably will get cut from the UFC if he loses. "The way I see it, I really have to win this fight or else I am going to get cut, and I'll lose this opportunity that I worked so hard for. I'm a man that's fighting for his family and wants to provide for them.”
UFC Picks
Motivation can be a huge factor in sports, including the UFC. Sanders has yet to prove he is anything special as a fighter and I think this matchup against Soukhamthath is even. Soukhamthath did lose his two UFC bouts, but he showed a lot in both fights and I think he has the ability to win in the UFC. I think the motivation of Soutkhamthath gives him the edge in this fight and we should get him at a nice price.
UFC Fight Night 123 takes place on Saturday, December 9 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. There are six fights on the main card featuring Cub Swanson vs. Brian Ortega and eight preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and three on UFC Fight Pass.
UFC Fight Night 123
Main Card (FS1)
Cub Swanson -118 vs. Brian Ortega
Jason Knight -290 vs. Gabriel Benitez
Marlon Moraes -165 vs. Aljamain Sterling
Scott Holtzman -116 vs. Darrell Horcher
Eryk Anders -276 vs. Markus Perez
Benito Lopez -120 vs. Albert Morales
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Alexis Davis vs. Liz Carmouche
Luke Sanders vs. Andre Soukhamthath
Carls John de Tomas vs. Alex Perez
Frankie Saenz vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Davi Ramos
Alejandro Perez vs. Iuri Alcantara
Antonio Braga Neto vs. Trevin Giles
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