Diego Sanchez retains a particular place within the hearts of UFC followers worldwide, not just for his victory on The Final Fighter season 1 – however for the sheer weirdness that adopted.
From insane walkouts carrying a bejeweled crucifix to actually hanging the wrong way up as his so-called ‘coach’ punched him within the head, it’s protected to say that Diego Sanchez is one-of-a-kind.
Forward of VICE TV’s premiere of ‘Darkish Aspect of the Cage: The Fighter and the Guru’, it’s time to revisit the madness that one among Joe Rogan’s favourite fighters delivered to the octagon.
Joe Rogan celebrates the ‘craziness’ that Diego Sanchez delivered to the UFC
Diego Sanchez may not be remembered as top-of-the-line fighters in UFC historical past, however on the subject of pure, unadulterated leisure, there’s solely a handful of athletes who might match the craziness of the ‘Nightmare’.
Talking with former UFC fighter and now Global Fight League athlete Kevin Lee again in 2019, the favored commentator would clarify that one of many explanation why he adored Sanchez is as a result of regardless of all of the ups and downs, he by no means as soon as misplaced his ardour for violence.
“That [dip in form] retains a whole lot of guys from having the identical enthusiasm and keenness that they’d once they had been 22 they usually pictured themselves on the duvet of Fighter’s Solely Journal…
“When that dream has been shattered, and also you’re only a actually good fighter, some individuals lose their enthusiasm for the sport… After which there’s Diego Sanchez, who doesn’t appear to offer a f*** about any of that and is simply there to wreck individuals”
Lee couldn’t assist however giggle as he admitted “Diego is out of his thoughts for certain,” earlier than Rogan famous that on the subject of cage preventing, “There are all totally different sorts of loopy, proper?
“I imply, after I noticed Diego maul Mickey Gall, I used to be like ‘God rattling, have a look at this man, he’s misplaced zero enthusiasm in all these years of preventing’. And you bought to comprehend, that man received The Ultimate Fighter season 1 in 2005 and now we’re 14 years later – that’s loopy.”
What’s simply as loopy is the lengthy, lengthy listing of names who Sanchez had stepped into the cage towards, together with Kenny Florian, Nick Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Clay Guida, Al Iaquinta, Matt Brown, Jim Miller, Mickey Gall, Michael Chiesa, Michel Pereira and eventually, Kevin Lee.
Sanchez fought within the UFC for 15 lengthy years from 2005 to 2020
Diego Sanchez’s longevity within the UFC is the stuff of legend.
After making his promotional debut within the sequence 1 finale of TUF in 2005, the ‘Nightmare’ would refuse to hold up the gloves till 2022 – and even then, Sanchez still took a BKFC fight the following year.
“You consider all of the individuals he beat who’ve lengthy since retired,” continued Rogan.
“Keep in mind when he used to stroll to the octagon screaming ‘YES, YES, YES’ – I might like it, he’s so f****** loopy however in one of the simplest ways, the best possible manner.
“He’s nonetheless one among my favourite guys to look at,” mentioned the UFC commentator, who in an earlier interview with Corridor of Famer Forrest Griffin, acknowledged that there merely aren’t many fighters like Sanchez left within the sport.
“When he beat Micky Gall that manner, I used to be extremely impressed, I believed this child may take a look at him and he didn’t take a look at him in any respect; [that was a] prime Diego Sanchez efficiency, 15 years into the sport, and that’s simply within the UFC – he had fights earlier than the UFC, he’s been right here for 14/15 years.
“It’s simply so wonderful that he’s nonetheless so captivated with it nonetheless. That’s a very long time in a fight sport [and] an enormous deviation [from the norm].”
Sanchez left the UFC in 2020 with a promotional file of 19-13, though his wider skilled MMA file stands at 30-14 – the ‘Nightmare’ episode of ‘Darkish Aspect of the Cage’ premieres later this week.