At 38 years old, Sanchez has been a mainstay of the UFC since 2005 and his stellar career has included a shot at the lightweight title (and a loss to the American great – and Hall of Famer – BJ Penn when he did) and not fewer than seven Fight of the Night bonuses for his efforts all the way.

Win this, the thinking goes, and the Melbourne-based Matthews will edge ever closer to a ranking or, in the very least, a match-up against a ranked fighter in a division that’s overflowing with talent. But the Aussie is intent on keeping things controlled.

“It’s definitely the biggest name I have fought,” Matthews told SCMP MMA from Abu Dhabi. “But I think I will let all that soak in after the fight. Stay level-headed and not look at the same and let it get to me. I think the only fight that would trump this would be a title fight.

UFC 253: Reyes vows to emerge from Jones’ shadow, build own legacy

“There are just so many different Diegos that could rock up on the night. We’ve seen that over his career. With Diego you just have to work it out during the fight. We don’t even know if Diego knows which Diego will come out. But it’s just another fight I have to go in there and do what we do.”

Matthews’ preparation for his bout against Sanchez has caught attention back home – and beyond – as he used the Covid-19 enforced lockdown to realise a long-held dream and he signed on for basic training in the Australian Army.

Five weeks of toil among fellow grunts convinced Matthews that there’s a future there – in uniform – once his fight days are over but in the short term the extra work out in the scrub that surrounds Wagga Wagga has added an edge to his fitness ahead of the clash with Sanchez.

“It’s just something I always wanted to do but couldn’t because of my fighting career. So it’s there for me in the future, I’ll make a career out of that,” says “The Celtic Kid”. “And the training all translates – if you’re fit for the army, you’re fit for a fight.”

Much of the attention in the lead up to this fight has been on Sanchez, and rightly so as “The Nightmare” nears the end of a fantastic career. The American has even been quoted touting a possible farewell bout with Conor McGregor (22-4) – as he looks for a final payday after 18 years of toil in the sport

Matthews can recall watching Sanchez win The Ultimate Fighter – over Kenny Florian (14-6) back in 2005 – when he was 11 years old and long before he traded a promising career as an Australian Rules football stand-out for combat sport.

“I was in grade five and now I am fighting him so it’s pretty cool to think about,” says Matthews. “But I have had a lot of fights in the UFC now [13] so I won’t let it get to me.”

The thing about Matthews is that he, too, seems to have been around the UFC forever, despite the fact he’s just turned 26. His first bout with the organisation came in 2014 and the past three years have seen him suffer just the one loss – to Anthony Rocco Martin in December 2018.

Matthews’ 5-1 run over that three-year period includes a Fight of the Night of his own in a decision win over China’s Li “The Leech” Jingliang (17-6) over three brutal rounds and another gruelling decision win over Norwegian veteran Emil Meek (9-5, one no contest) last time out in Auckland in February.

It’s been four years since Matthews fought outside the Asia-Pacific region but he is prepped for a return to the bright lights of what promises to be a barnburner of a card on Fight Island, featuring in total five fighters from “Down Under”.

“I’ll be staying composed,” says Matthews. “But I really feel like this is the fight. Taking out a legend is the way to propel yourself into the top 15. But I’ll look to that later. At the moment there is this fight, and that’s all there is.”