- Recent Training Video view
- TV Appearance KCBS/KCAL read
- UFC Announces the return of Diego Sanchez read
- Sanchez Obliterates Riggs read
- Sanchez Starches Riggs read
- Sizing Up Sanchez vs Riggs read
- Diego Sanchez is living the dream read
- Sanchez bests Parisyan read
- Diego Sanchez is living the
dream of a contender read
- It's On - Sanchez vs Parisyan: read
- Diego Sanchez UFC (Video) Interview: view
- Diego Sanchez UFC (Audio) Interview: listen
- Diego Sanchez – Chasing Destiny:
read
- Diego Sanchez vs John Allesio UFC 60: read
- Sanchez Forced to Withdraw from UFC 58:
read
- John Alessio vs. Diego Sanchez, UFC 58 :
read
- Sanchez Becomes Diaz’ Nightmare :
read
Two of the UFC’s best young welterweights will match skills on Thursday,
August 17, when Karo ‘The Heat’ Parisyan battles Diego ‘Nightmare’
Sanchez in the main event of Spike TV’s UFC® Fight Night™,
which will be immediately followed by the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter™
4 – The Comeback.
Ticket and site information, as well as a hard-hitting undercard, will be
announced shortly.
Sanchez, 24, the middleweight winner of season one of The Ultimate Fighter™,
is unbeaten in mixed martial arts at 17-0, and he is coming off a hard fought
decision win over veteran John Alessio at UFC 60 in May. Parisyan (23-3)
a seasoned vet himself, though only 23, has won four in a row in the Octagon,
and five out of six overall in the UFC, with his only loss coming via decision
to number one welterweight contender Georges St. Pierre in 2004. In his
last bout, ‘The Heat’ submitted Nick Thompson via strikes in
the first round at UFC 59 in April.
Still two years away from his first professional fight, Diego Sanchez,
then 18 (18 ½ as he makes sure to point out) was at a crossroads.
Fresh out of high school, he had been a wrestler and a fan of the UFC, but
he really didn’t have any indication that fighting was going to be
his life’s work.
Then fate struck.
“I wasn’t looking for the fight, it found me, and that’s
basically the way fighting found me,” he remembers, referring to a
street fight that ultimately changed his life.
“I hadn’t been in a lot of fights in my life and I got tested
in the street fight one time, fighting a big, strong, tough athlete who
had strong endurance – he was a football player and he outweighed
me by like 70 pounds, and I was able to overcome those odds,” said
Sanchez in an interview conducted before his aborted UFC 58 bout with John
Alessio. “And I had wrestled, but I didn’t know jiu-jitsu –
it was all heart. And when I overcame that guy, I started to think that
maybe I am meant for this.”
As simple as that, the Albuquerque native had a direction in life, one that
led him not only through the MMA ranks and to the middleweight championship
of the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ series, but one
that will bring him to STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on May 27th to finally
face the veteran Alessio at UFC 60 (their first bout was scrapped when Sanchez
was stricken with a virus days before the bout and rendered unable to compete).
It’s a long way from that street fight in New Mexico.
“I always loved the UFC, I always wanted to be a UFC fighter, but
did I think it was gonna happen?” he asks. “I didn’t know.
But after that happened, I started to realize. Then it was just one fight
after another, building momentum, my confidence grew and I continued to
trust in God and believe that maybe this was why I was put on the TV show
and why everything is just the way it is. I believe its destiny.”
It’s also a lot of hard work. Sanchez didn’t fall out of the
sky as one of the rising stars of the UFC’s welterweight division.
He paid his dues in the King of the Cage organization before his berth on
TUF brought him into the nation’s living rooms each week, and even
though he’s currently riding high, it wasn’t a journey without
hurdles to jump over.
“With every fight my maturity grew, and with every fight I learned
a lesson,” said Sanchez. “A lot of things happened in my career
which were blessings in disguise. There was stuff that hurt and I had to
work through, but it helped me mentally as a fighter, overcoming those things
like injuries and mental battles, fighting my friends, fighting on TV without
my trainer, being alone on that TV show and things like that. It helped
me mature as a fighter. Every fighter’s gonna mature, it’s just
how you take a win and how you take a loss.”
Sanchez hasn’t lost yet as a professional MMA fighter, with his last
defeats coming to Jake Shields and Marcelo Garcia in the Abu Dhabi submission
wrestling championships in 2005. He learned a lot from his time in the tournament.
“I wasn’t down about it because I took that tournament on two
weeks notice, I wasn’t training, and I cut 23 pounds in a week,”
he said. “I was so weak from my match with Jake Shields, a match that
I lost, and then I was able to stick with Marcelo (Garcia) a day later in
the absolute division and I was stronger because I had a day to recover.
We were 0-0 with 30 seconds left and I was getting desperate and I went
for a sloppy move with the best grappler in the world and he caught me with
the counter move and I was submitted for the first time in competition.
But what I had done to my body, I killed myself. I never wanted to quit
so bad in my life. I was mentally weak in that sauna, and I felt myself
wanting to quit. It taught me a big lesson. After that happened, you will
never see Diego Sanchez cutting weight like that again for a mixed martial
arts fight. Because if I had been in a mixed martial arts fight, I probably
would have been beaten, because my insides were gone. I felt my organs hurting
and I never want to feel that in a fight.”
He pauses.
“I did a lot of things wrong to get things right.”
These days though, the “Nightmare” express isn’t showing
any signs of stopping any time soon. After winning his TUF championship
bout against Kenny Florian, Sanchez blew through veteran Brian Gassaway
at UFC 54 and then was matched against fellow young gun Nick Diaz at last
November’s TUF 2 finale.
The lead-up to the bout was filled with trash talk and accusations, and
even as the two prepared to enter the staging area at Las Vegas’ Hard
Rock Hotel and Casino before their walk into the Octagon, tension was high
as Diaz hurled insults and threats at a stoic Sanchez.
“I’ve been through a lot of fights,” Sanchez muses when
asked about Diaz’ attempt to get under his skin. “What it comes
down to is, I’m a professional. Regardless of whether the guy likes
me or doesn’t like me, I’m going in there, I’m fighting,
and I know what I’m fighting for. I’m fighting for my pride,
for all that hard work I put in, and I believe I’ve put in more hard
work than my opponent. I’ve been non-stop for five years now. I’ve
been wrestling for 15 years and I haven’t stopped. I’ve seen
the goal at the top of hill and I haven’t stopped climbing. I’m
aware of that and I keep that in mind when I’m getting ready to go
in there and fight. I’m also aware that any type of energy is an energy
form – whether it’s me getting mad, that’s me wasting
energy; or him getting mad, that’s him wasting his energy. When I
step into the ring, I want to have 100 percent of my energy, I want to thrive
off the energy of the fans in the crowd, and of course my main helper is
my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I just feel that God is the one who keeps
me calm and helps me not let that get to me. It also comes down to me being
very confident, because if I’m not confident, then I’m gonna
start to have doubts and start to think about the bad things that can happen
to me in the cage – like getting knocked out or submitted or cut.
If I think about those things, it’s gonna be on my mind and it’s
gonna bring me down. I stay positive, I stay focused, and I think about
what I have to do to beat my opponent.”
That night, in a dazzling display of high-quality groundfighting from both
men, Sanchez scored a unanimous decision over Diaz and truly established
himself as a UFC-quality fighter.
“Nick Diaz was in the best shape of his life for our fight,”
said Sanchez. “I know Nick trained his ass off for our fight and he
made a lot of sacrifices in his life, and he was on his game when he fought
me. That’s why he was able to stay with my pace. A normal guy is gonna
keep going and going and going, and then he’s gonna break at one time.
They won’t be able to keep up with the speed, and that’s when
they break. I’m hoping that’s what’s gonna happen with
John Alessio.”
Against Alessio, Sanchez is facing another MMA veteran with an impressive
track record. The 24-year-old from New Mexico knows his opponent well.
“I’ve known the guy for a long time,” said Sanchez of
Alessio. “From my first fight as a King of the Cage fighter, he was
already the champ, so I saw a lot of his fights, and he’s basically
what an MMA fighter is today – he’s good at everything. Everybody
has their little specialties – mine may be ground and pound, his may
be boxing, so it makes for a good fight. The winner’s going to be
whoever imposes their will – me imposing my will to get on the ground,
him imposing his will to stay standing.”
If he emerges victorious next month, the inevitable call for another step
up in class will go up, and the fanatical among his following will start
calling for a title shot. But Sanchez admits that that’s not on his
radar right now.
“I don’t want to fight for the title,” he said. “If
I could prolong fighting for the title, I’ll prolong it as long as
possible. I want to fight guys that match up well with me. I think Karo
Parisyan is a great fight for me and I think our styles match up well. Our
standup striking is very similar, and I also think our wrestling and submissions
are on the same level so I think that would make for a very exciting fight.
Also, somebody I really have an interest in fighting, but he’s in
a different weight, is Chris Leben. I want to fight this guy, so me going
back to 185, if the fight’s right and my management does things right
and Joe Silva works it out, I may be making it back to ’85 to fight
Chris Leben.”
“I’m young and I look forward to rising up the rankings and
continuing to learn as a fighter,” continues Sanchez. “I’m
still learning a lot and every fight I’m getting better. I’m
doing things so different now. My health is better than ever, my recovery
time is better than ever, I’m smarter, and when it’s my time,
I really want it to be my time. I want to be champ for a long time. That’s
why I want to wait as long as I possibly can. With the rise of mixed martial
arts, I believe it’s coming to an all-time high and it’s only
gonna grow and the money’s only gonna get better, so of course, I
want to wait until it’s my time to make the money that (Randy) Couture
and (Chuck) Liddell are making now. That’s my plan, if I can have
my way. But I’m paying my dues now.”
And despite comments like those, Sanchez still finds himself at the center
of message board wars between his diehard fans and those who are as diehard
in their dislike of him. He refuses to let the negativity of some fans get
to him though, as he chooses to focus on the positive side of the MMA fanbase.
“I have plenty of wonderful fans that love me,” he said. “Of
course I’ve got people who are haters and negative people who want
to see an undefeated fighter lose, and there are always gonna be those people
out there no matter how good I do in my career, and no matter how good anybody
does in their career. People want to see the person who hasn’t got
beat, get beat.”
If Sanchez keeps on the right path and keeps improving the way he has been
over the last year, he may not lose anytime soon. But he knows that in this
sport, one second of missed focus can turn a win into a loss, and he can’t
afford for that to happen – not now, not ever.
“It’s your life on the line when you get in there,” he
said. “This is my career and this is my life. I’m number four
in the world right now, but I’m not here to be number four. I’m
here to be number one. And with (Georges) St. Pierre and (Matt) Hughes and
BJ (Penn) and Karo, I’ve got tough, tough work cut out for me, and
if I slack, that means I’m doing stuff a fighter shouldn’t be
doing, that’s gonna bring me down as a person and as a fighter.”
“You never know when it’s gonna be your last fight, and I fight
every fight like that,” Sanchez continues. “I’ll fight
John Alessio like it’s going to be the last fight of my life. When
I’m in there, I will fight with every ounce of blood I have in me,
with all my spirit, heart, and mind. And I’ve heard fighters say this,
but truly, he’s gonna have to kill me to beat me because I’m
not gonna quit, I’m not gonna break.”
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UFC 60 - which will be held on Saturday, May 27th at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California – promises to be the biggest event in UFC history. Event will be available on Pay-Per-View at 10:00 p.m. EST on May 27th.
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Due to illness, welterweight contender Diego Sanchez has been forced to withdraw from his match with John Alessio on this Saturday’s UFC 58 card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. There will be no replacement opponent for Alessio, and the UFC 58 – USA vs Canada card will go on with eight bouts.
According to Sanchez' manager, Reed Wallace, Sanchez was stricken with a virus ten days ago that not only rendered him ill, but forced him to drop down to 162 pounds. Tuesday, Sanchez took himself to the emergency room as he had still not recovered, and needless to say, was in no condition to fight on Saturday. The season one winner of The Ultimate Fighter's middleweight division is expected to be visiting a gastro internist Wednesday for further diagnosis and treatment.
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UFC
Written by Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
Friday, 20 January 2006
Former King of the Cage 170 lb title John Alessio will be making his way back to the UFC after a long time away and will be replacing Jonathan Goulet against The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Diego Sanchez. This will be Alessio’s first fight back at UFC 58 “Canada vs. USA” since UFC 26, which was before Zuffa took over the reigns of the UFC in June of 2000! Alessio was excited about his opportunity and said regarding being back in the UFC, “Man well it has been something I have been working for the last 3-4 years of my life so I am ecstatic right now!” In his first UFC bout he took on Pat Miletich in a lightweight championship title match, and was actually the first Canadian in recent memory to challenge for the UFC 170 pound title.
When asked about his thoughts on the US vs. Canada format Alessio says, “I think it is a cool idea, especially since there is a wealth of rising stars in Canada. It is good for Canadians and The US, to see Canadian fighters. I think it is a good idea.”
Alessio tells us he will be heading out to Utah with training partner Mac
Danzig to work with Jeremy Horn and his camp in preparation for his second
UFC fight. –MMARR
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In the card’s main event, Sanchez proved that he is a legitimate contender to the welterweight crown held by Matt Hughes as he scored a shutout three round decision over heated rival Nick Diaz.
Scores for ‘The Nightmare’ were 30-27 across the board.
“I believe I was in control the whole way,” said Sanchez, who
is unbeaten in the UFC®. “There’s no messing around for
Diego Sanchez, I’m on my way to the top.”
Avoiding Diaz’ superior standup skills from the opening bell, Sanchez
dominated the action on the ground with a mixture of well-placed strikes,
frenetic grapples, and side control. Diaz, who never seemed to get into
a rhythm in the bout, kept trying to lock in submissions on Sanchez, but
‘The Nightmare’ was too fast and slick.
In the second round, Diaz landed his only damaging strike of the night,
a flush kick to the face from the ground, but Sanchez quickly recovered
and got back to business, which wasn’t pretty – but it was effective.
By round three, the heated turf war finally kicked into gear when both suffered
cuts – Diaz to his forehead, Sanchez over his eye. The fists started
flying with more desperation, and the attempts by both men to finish the
fight increased. But by the end of the bout, Diaz’ inability to get
his shots off before getting taken down proved to be his downfall. Not that
he’s about to give his opponent credit.
“No, I don’t,” said Diaz when asked if he thought Sanchez
belonged where he currently stands in the 170 lbs. division.
Sanchez, victory in hand, had a simple response. “He can think what
he wants.”
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