Albuquerque’s Sanchez, Waterson land bouts

Albuquerque MMA teammates Diego Sanchez and Michelle Waterson will be back in the Octagon soon.

Sanchez (27-11) will face England’s Craig White (14-8) in a lightweight fight on UFC 228 in Dallas on Sept. 8, the UFC announced. Waterson (15-6), a strawweight, is scheduled to face Felice Herrig (14-7) of Buffalo Grove, Ill., on UFC 229 in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 6.

Waterson and Sanchez train at Jackson-Wink MMA.

They become part of an extremely busy stretch for Albuquerque fighters.

Sanchez joins Albuquerque’s Nicco Montaño on UFC 228. Montaño (4-2), who trains at FIT-NHB, is scheduled to defend her UFC flyweight title against Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko (15-3).

On UFC 229, Waterson joins Jackson-Wink teammate Yana Kunitskaya (104) of Russia, who’s scheduled to face Lina Lansberg (8-3) of Malmo, Sweden, in a bantamweight fight.

On Nov. 10 in Denver, on a UFC Fight Night card, Jackson-Wink teammates Ray Borg and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone are scheduled to return.

Borg (11-3) is matched against Las Cruces High School graduate Joseph Benavidez (25-5) in a flyweight fight. Benavidez lives and trains in Sacramento, Calif. Cerrone (37-11), a welterweight, is scheduled to face Mike Perry (12-3) of Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The upcoming action is not limited to the UFC.

On Aug. 17, Brenda Gonzales Means (8-3), a bantamweight who trains at FIT-NHB, is scheduled to face Panama’s Joscelyn Edwards Laboriel (7-1) on a The Fight Series card in suburban Des Moines, Iowa.

Bantamweight Tim Sosa and his FIT-NHB teammate, King of the Cage middleweight champion Sidiah Parker (18-6), are booked on a Sept. 1 KOTC card at Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo.

Coach Arlene Sanchez Vaughn said a total of eight FIT-NHB fighters, four pros and four amateurs, are scheduled to fight on the Sept. 1 card.