Has the UFC and long term servant Diego Sanchez parted ways?
Sanchez won the very first The Ultimate Fighter back in 2005 and has been an ever-popular fighter. He last fought against Michael Chiesa and was comfortably beaten by unanimous decision. He had won the previous two against less experienced opponents, Mickey Gall and Craig White.
His overall record as it stands is 29-12 but at 37, realistically there is not much more he can achieve.
According to Lethwei veteran Dave Leduc, Sanchez is no longer with the UFC.
“I got a message from Diego Sanchez the other day,” Leduc told Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan show. “He said, ‘Dave, I’m not in the UFC anymore’. Whoops, maybe I shouldn’t have (said) that.
“(He) said, ‘I’m out of my contract, do you what to get me a Lethwei fight in WLC (World Lethwei Championship).
For those that don’t know, Lethwei is considered one of the most brutal combat sports, a sort of bare-knuckle Muay Thai.
However, there could be crossed wires between Sanchez and Leduc.
“Listen, ‘done with the UFC‘ never ever was spoken out of the words of my mouth,” Sanchez told The Luke Thomas Show. “But as far as being done with my contract and I assume that is the misinterpretation that Dave was speaking about. My contract was at an end and it is at an end, I am a free agent.
“Right now I’ve been going back and forth with UFC, trying to get a fight,” Sanchez said. “They offered me, I was offered a fight but the timing of the fight it was rushed and it was pressured. It was overseas in Australia and I was fighting an Australian guy, I loved the opponent but it was the timing of it.
“It was going to be rushed and I was going to be put at a disadvantage, it was not a fight I could take right now in this transitional period of life.”
So that would clear up where Sanchez is, currently a free agent but been in discussions with the UFC. He had called out Demian Maia after Maia beat Ben Askren last week. A fight that could be likely to be made. We may still see Diego Sanchez one more time in the Octagon.
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