Andre Soukhamthath thought with a loss at UFC Fight Night 123, he certainly would be on the chopping block.
Soukhamthath (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) took his fight with Luke Sanders (11-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on just two weeks’ notice earlier this month and was a big underdog. But he took out Sanders with a second-round TKO for his first UFC win after back-to-back split-decision losses to start his tenure in the promotion.
Now the UFC has rewarded him with what he’s calling an “early Christmas gift.” Soukhamthath posted a video on his Instagram feed saying he had just signed a new five-fight deal with the promotion – and he teased a fight announcement coming soon.
Soukhamthath came to the UFC earlier this year as CES MMA’s bantamweight champion and on a three-fight winning streak of knockouts. But his luck wasn’t good in his new home out of the gate.
At UFC 209 in March, he dropped a split decision to Albert Morales. And while most media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com scored the fight for Morales, a handful had Soukhamthath winning.
At UFC Fight Night 114 in Mexico City in August, his bad luck continued. He went to the judges again, and again they went the other direction to give the fight to Alejandro Perez. This time, it was the opposite – most outlets scoring the bout had it for Soukhamthath, including some by margins as wide as 29-27 and 30-27.
So against Sanders, problem solved: Just don’t go to distance. Soukhamthath’s stoppage paid off, and now he has five more fights in the UFC to continue to try to make his mark on the bantamweight division.
“The past is the past,” Soukhamthath said after his win over Sanders. “I saw an opportunity to take this fight on short notice. I would rather take matters into my own hands. Rather than (having UFC matchmaker) Sean Shelby and the UFC cutting me after two losses, I took this opportunity and saved myself. I think I did that. I think I saved my job.”
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
Comments