Another one of the Irish MMA heroes from July 19th aka UFC Dublin has been given his next assignment. McGregor was announced to fight Poirier, Nelson and Pendred on the UFC Sweden card and now the next has just been announced.
Northern Irishman Norman Parke (20-2-1) will get what he wished for after his post-fight callout and will face veteran Diego Sanchez (25-7) at the UFC’s first ever event in Mexico on November 15th, aka UFC 180.
Parke called out Sanchez following TKO win over Japanese fighter Naoyuki Kotani at UFC Dublin in July. The TUF Smashes winner has went undefeated in the UFC this far posting a record of 4 wins and 1 draw.
Sanchez, a winner of the very first The Ultimate Fighter, will be Parke’s biggest challenge to date. The 32-year-old has been a member of the UFC roster since 2005 and has one of the highest number of fights in the Octagon (21 in total) of any competitor. A former title challenger, Sanchez has deep family ties to Mexico and is highly popular in the region.
This will not be the first time Parke has been in enemy territory. He faced Leonardo Santos in his native Brazil and won the fight on everyone’s scorecards apart from the judges and as a result the fight was declared a draw, the only blemish of Parke’s UFC record. The 28-year-old will be in his element coming out to a hostile crowd in Mexico.
The card will be headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum who are currently coaches on TUF: Latin America.
