UFC Albany Adds TUF Winner Andrew Sanchez, SBG's Charlie Ward
UFC Albany has added a middleweight fight between TUF winner Andrew Sanchez and Trevor Smith, as well as the debut of Conor McGregor’s teammate, Charlie Ward.
The UFC announced both fights on their website.
Andrew Sanchez will return to his rightful division after winning The Ultimate Fighter 23 as a light heavyweight. The grappler will face veteran grinder Trevor Smith in his first post-TUF test.
Andrew “El Dirte” Sanchez was selected as a cast member for TUF 23 with a 7-2 record that included five knockouts and two submissions. On the show, he favored his grappling much more, winning two fights via decision, and reaching the finals with a first round TKO of Eric Spicely.
With the task of fighting the dangerously powerful Khalil Rountree in the finals, Sanchez went back to his grappling. In the co-main event of the TUF 23 Finale in July, Sanchez took down Rountree six times and held top control for nearly 12 minutes.
Trevor Smith finally scored back-to-back wins for the first time in his seven-fight UFC career by defeating newcomer Joe Gigliotti in August 2016 after besting Dan Miller in July 2015. Smith is now 4-3 in the Octagon after a 2-2 Strikeforce career that included fights against Gian Villante and Tim Kennedy.
Associating with Conor McGregor continues to benefit fighters. Artem Lobov was not cut after losing in his first two Octagon appearances, dropping his overall record to 11-12-1 (1 no contest). Now, SBG teammate Charlie Ward has been signed to the promotion with just a 3-1 record.
Ward was defeated in his professional debut, but followed up with three straight victories including one knockout. McGregor has taken some credit for getting Ward the five-fight deal.
Want your voice heard? Join the Cage Pages team!
The Irishman will face Randy Brown in his promotional debut. Brown was found by UFC President Dana White on Lookin’ for a Fight. Since entering the Octagon for the first time, Randy Brown is 2-1. Brown last appeared in September, choking out TUF Latin America winner Erick Montano with an excellent guillotine choke in the third round.
UFC Albany is headlined by Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis taking on Shamil Abdurakhimov. Also on the card, top bantamweights Raphael Assuncao and Aljamain Sterling look to re-enter the title picture. The event takes place on December 9 in the Times Union Center of Albany, New York.
More from Cage Pages
This article originally appeared on 
