KRQE News 13 in Albequerque, New Mexico is reporting that Albequerque native Diego Sanchez will be fighting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai at UFC 74 in August.

Diego Sanchez, of course, last fought at UFC 69 where he received his first loss at the hands of Josh Koscheck by decision. A lot of news circulated around Sanchez both before and after that fight including rumors of a Hepatitis-C infection before the weigh-ins, which ultimately turned out to be a very serious staph infection after the fight.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai is a Japanese fighter will a lot of experience in Pride FC, Deep, and Shooto. Sakurai did fight once before in the UFC losing to Matt Hughes at UFC 36 back in 2002. Since that time, Sakurai has widely been regarded as one of the top 3 lightweight fighters in the world. Of course, in PrideFC, the lightweight limit was at 160 pounds, not the 155 pounds that the UFC uses. Sakurai would have a very tough time making the 155 lb weight limit, so a spot in the welterweight division at 170lbs makes sense.

If this report is true, this should be an excellent fight.