Outside Source
The Hurricane Training Center rep on Tuesday cleared the first hurdle standing between him and an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, as he disposed of Alejandro Sanchez with punches in the first round of their welterweight quarterfinal on Episode 6 of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 33. Dixon left nothing to chance. He pressed the issue with relentless forward movement, utilized feints and stance switches to keep his counterpart off-guard, doubled up on his jab, attacked the body when opportunities presented themselves and connected with heavy one-twos. Dixon ultimately backed the Entram Gym export to the fence and floored him with a sweeping left hook. A few follow-up shots left referee Kerry Hatley no choice but to intervene.
“These guys did what everyone was expecting them to do [and] kept the fight standing,” UFC CEO Dana White said. “Matt was able to control the pace and make Alex uncomfortable.”
Coach Daniel Cormier was visibly frustrated with what unfolded.
“We’re telling Alex exactly what he needs to do,” the American Kickboxing Academy captain said. “He needs to be pressing. He needs to be going forward. I don’t know what happened in the fight, [but] Alex starts to back up. He starts backing up and evading and not taking the center. We’re screaming at him to go forward. You can’t run. You can’t run from a fight. You’ve got to be willing to go through the fire in a fistfight.”
Coach Chael Sonnen saw Dixon’s strategy pay dividends in real time.
“Matt hit him in the body so many times that Alex’s hands started coming down,” he said, “which is ultimately what set up the shot that ended it.”
Dixon viewed the result as vindication, as he had suffered his only professional defeat to Orion Cosce on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2020.
“So surreal,” he said. “This is one of the craziest moments for me. It’s been such a long journey for me. There have been a lot of ups and downs. To go in and prove it on the biggest stage, [to prove] that I belong here and that I’m a real threat in this competition—it’s just absolutely amazing. I’m so grateful.”
Dixon’s technical knockout victory gave Team Sonnen control of the board and set the stage for the final flyweight quarterfinal of the season. It will pit Roybert Echeverria against Team Cormier’s Tumelo Manyamala on Episode 7.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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