Diego Sanchez Drops to Featherweight, Will Face Ricardo Lamas in Mexico

Diego Sanchez is shedding weight again. 

UFC.com's Thomas Gerbasi reported Wednesday that Sanchez will drop from lightweight to featherweight for his next bout, a Nov. 21 tilt with the No. 4-ranked Ricardo Lamas in Monterrey, Mexico. 

For Sanchez, moving weight classes is nothing new. 

On Season 1 of the UFC's hit reality show The Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez took home gold, winning the middleweight tournament by defeating Alex Karalexis, Josh Rafferty, Josh Koscheck and Kenny Florian in succession. 

After taking home the show's 185-pound crown, Sanchez fought at welterweight nine times from August 2005 to June 2008, posting a 7-2 record during that stint. 

He then tried his luck at lightweight, quickly ascending to a title fight with then-champion BJ Penn at UFC 107, where he lost via TKO due to a cut in Round 5. 

Since then, Sanchez has bounced between welterweight and lightweight, but he's fought his last four fights at 155, setting up his current drop to featherweight. 

Should he get through the weight cut without issue, Sanchez still has a formidable task in front of him for his 145-pound debut in Lamas. 

A former title challenger himself, Lamas is 7-3 in his last 10 contests, defeating fighters such as Cub Swanson, Erik Koch and Dennis Bermudez. 

His most recent outing resulted in defeat, however, as he was knocked out by another top-five featherweight, Chad Mendes, at UFC Fight Night 63 in April. 

Despite this, there's no question Lamas is a top-tier featherweight, and he presents challenges for Sanchez wherever the fight may go. 

With a win, Sanchez would catapult himself into the 145-pound title conversation, where he could then make a run at champion Jose Aldo or interim champion Conor McGregor. 

Already one of the most exciting divisions in the UFC, the featherweight class just got a little more interesting with the addition of the Greg Jackson dynamo.