Diego Sanchez
 
 

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez

Diego Nightmare SanchezDiego Sanchez, also known as “The Nightmare,” is a Mexican-American who fights in the welterweight division of the UFC. The 5’11”, 170 pound Sanchez has a background in karate, wrestling and Gaidojutsu (a style developed by his trainer).

Born on December 31st, 1981 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sanchez started taking karate lessons when he was nine years old. While attending Del Norte High School, he won a state championship in wrestling.

Diego Sanchez MMA Debut

His MMA debut came on June 21st, 2002 at the Ring of Fire 5 event. There, he faced off against Michael Johnson and won with a rear naked choke. Less than three months later, he added another win to his record by defeating Jesus Sanchez by TKO at the Aztec Challenge 1.

Diego Sanchez - King of the Cage Events

Diego then participated in numerous King of the Cage events, defeating fighters such as Shannon Ritch, Jorge Santiago, Cruz Chacon and Mike Guymon. Adding in a couple of wins at independent events, Diego had increased his overall MMA record to 11-0 in the span of two years (with 7 of the wins coming by way of submission).

Diego Sanchez on The Ultimate Fighter

He was then chosen to participate on the first season of a MMA reality show broadcast on Spike TV. The show, put on by the UFC, was dubbed The Ultimate Fighter. Diego, fighting in the middleweight division, was selected to be on the team coached by Chuck Liddell.

In the fourth episode of the season, Diego took on Alex Karalexis and defeated him with a rear naked choke in the first round. Then, in episode eight, he won again by defeating Josh Rafferty in the first round.

In the 11th episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez won a split decision over Josh Koscheck after three rounds of competition. With this victory, Sanchez earned the right to advance to the finals which were to be held on April 9th, 2005.

At The Ultimate Fighter Finale, Sanchez took on the other middleweight finalist, Kenny Florian. Sanchez stopped his opponent by TKO at 2 minutes of the first round. By winning the middleweight division, Sanchez secured a six-figure UFC contract and a black Scion automobile.

Diego Sanchez - Suspension Over Possible Marijuana Use

Upon entering the UFC, Sanchez dropped down in weight to fight in the welterweight division. He racked up a series of win, defeating Brian Gassaway, Nick Diaz, John Alessio, Karo Parisyan and Joe Riggs. His knockout victory over Riggs would be the first KO of his UFC career.

After the Riggs fight, Sanchez was signed to fight against Josh Koscheck. However, Sanchez was suspended for three months after failing a drug test where agents commonly found in marijuana were discovered in his body.

After serving his suspension, Sanchez was back on track to fight Koscheck. By this point, many were referring to Sanchez as the Golden Boy of the UFC due to his winning ways.

But at UFC 69, Sanchez’s undefeated streak would come to an end. In a lackluster fight, he was out pointed by Josh Koscheck and lost by unanimous decision.

Weeks later, UFC president Dana White announced that Sanchez was sick going into the bout. In fact, pre-fight tests had indicated that Sanchez had Hepatitis C and would have to retire from the sport. Doctors concluded that the test results were not accurate, but the true cause of his illness could not be determined. Therefore, the fight went on as planned.

It was also revealed that the day after the Koscheck fight, Sanchez had a hole in his thigh the size of a coffee cup. He was diagnosed and treated for a staph infection.

After the loss, Sanchez relocated his training camp to San Diego and started preparing for his next fight. With a desire to get right back into the hunt for a world title, he requested the toughest opponent available in the welterweight division. He was paired up with Jon Fitch, a former Division I wrestler who was undefeated in the UFC.

The two men clashed at UFC 76 on September 22nd, 2007. Twice during the fight, Sanchez locked in submission attempts and worked them for a substantial amount of time. But despite his efforts, Sanchez lost a split decision in a fight which many felt could have went either way.

Outside of the ring, Sanchez has been romantically linked with UFC Octagon Girl Ali Sonoma. A born again Christian, Sanchez has one son.

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