A middleweight contest between David Branch and Andrew Sanchez has been added to UFC Vancouver on September 14.
Middleweight contender David Branch returns to action at UFC Vancouver, when he faces Andrew Sanchez. MMA Junkie were the first to report the booking.
Branch, 37, is in desperate need of a victory having lost his last two bouts. The Renzo Gracie black-belt was finished with strikes against short-notice replacement Jared Cannoiner at UFC 230, and most recently was submitted in 49 seconds to top-ranked contender Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 2. Branch is a former WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight champion. Since re-joining the UFC back in 2017, however, he has a losing record at 2-3, with losses to the aforementioned Cannoiner, Hermansson and former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Branch does hold a knockout victory over upcoming title-challenger Thiago Santos.
Sanchez, 31, has the momentum in this bout, as he is coming off back-to-back unanimous decision wins. In his most recent appearance, Sanchez overcame adversity to defeat former TKO two-weight champion Marc-Andre Barriault last month. In his UFC career, Sanchez is 4-2. His biggest win so far was over surging light heavyweight Khalil Rountree, who he defeated by unanimous decision. The win over Rountree was the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 23 – which was contested at light heavyweight.
UFC Vancouver (UFC Fight Night 158) does not currently have a venue, but it does have a date which is September 14. The current bouts are as follows:
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Uriah Hall – middleweight.
- Augusto Sakai vs. Marcin Tybura – heavyweight.
- David Branch vs. Andrew Sanchez – middleweight.
