Ross Pearson calls out Alvarez, Melendez and especially Diego Sanchez after win

BRISBANE, Australia – The days of UFC lightweight Ross Pearson isn’t doing this MMA thing for glory have long passed. Money is what keeps him coming back to the cage.

Pearson (19-10 MMA, 11-7 UFC) needs big fights to make big checks, and so after a close decision over “TUF Nations” winner Chad Laprise (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 85, he called out a trio of big names.

Against one, he’s got a score to settle.

“Eddie Alvarez, I think that’s a great fight,” Pearson said backstage at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, which hosted his UFC Fight Pass-streamed bout in Brisbane. “He stands in the middle and swings and fights. Gilbert Melendez is another one.

“But if there’s one name in my career that I need to whip so bad is Diego Sanchez.”

When Pearson said his fight with Sanchez (26-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) is the one that really sticks out in his seven years in the UFC, he’s not lying. His decision loss to Sanchez in 2014 at UFC Fight Night 42 was one of the most egregious displays of bad judging in the promotion’s history.

Not a single media source picked Sanchez the winner after three rounds against Pearson, who picked him apart with precision striking combinations. But two judges gave Sanchez the bout, with one criminally giving Sanchez all three rounds.

Pearson appealed the result, to no avail, and now wants to get his loss back.

“It’s like, you mother (expletive),” he said. “You got away that night. I love Diego, I love what he’s all about. He’s an old school guy and stands in the middle of the cage and he fights. But there’s no way he won that fight. The world knows it.”

Thankfully for Pearson, Sanchez is also coming off a recent UFC fight, having returned to the win column at lightweight with a decision over Jim Miller at UFC 196.

Now, it’s up to UFC brass to give Pearson what he wants. Check out his thoughts on a Sanchez rematch and his victory over Laprise in the video above.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Events section of the site.