If Kos wasn't able to take Alves down, and Hughes wasn't able to take Alves down, Diego has no chance of making it a ground fight.
He's not better than Hughes on the ground and Hughes couldn't do anything with Alves. Not that it matters because if Kos couldn't take Alves down I don't see how Sanchez will. It really looks like this (beating Alves) is a job for GSP. Beating KP, Hughes and Kos in a row should but Alves above the need for another fight before he gets the shot, but it sucks that the soonest we'd get to see Alves/GSP for the title would be...what, nine months or so? When is GSP/Penn II again? Too bad the timing is screwed up, but I don't see this fight happening anytime soon. When it does though, I'll pick GSP. I think his method of take downs is much more keyed to MMA because he sets them up with strikes better than most (including Kos and similar to how Sherk does it) and he's just seemed like such a beast on the ground recently. So who beat Kos more decisively, GSP who had a close first and then owned him on the ground almost subbing him with a kimura or Alves who had two close-ish rounds before blasting him on the feet in the final round?
GSP vs Penn II is still the fight that i want to see. But the best fight in MMA right now that can be made is Thiago Alves vs Anderson Silva at Middleweight...IMHO.