Diego Sanchez was born on December 31,1981 and is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes on the Super Lightweight division of Eagle Fighting Championship.
71 Facts About Diego Sanchez
2.
Diego Sanchez has formerly competed for King of the Cage, where he was the Welterweight Champion.
3.
Diego Sanchez is one of two fighters to have competed in four different weight classes in the UFC: Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight; the other being Kenny Florian.
4.
Diego Sanchez was born to a Mexican American family on December 31,1981.
5.
Diego Sanchez was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he still resides.
6.
Diego Sanchez was a high school state champion in wrestling as a senior before he started training mixed martial arts while working for UPS.
7.
Diego Sanchez eventually joined Jackson's Submission Fighting, still while working for UPS, managing the time between work and training.
8.
Diego Sanchez made his MMA debut in 2002 in the promotion Ring of Fire, despite having injured his heel the night before.
9.
Diego Sanchez mostly went for takedowns, while his opponent, who was a more developed striker, bloodied the young Diego Sanchez.
10.
However, Diego Sanchez continued to use his wrestling expertise, landed another takedown in the second round, taking his opponent's back, then sinking in a rear-naked choke, causing his opponent to tap.
11.
Diego Sanchez was chosen as a participant in the first season of the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.
12.
Diego Sanchez won a contract with the UFC after defeating fellow finalist Kenny Florian via TKO, becoming the middleweight winner for the first season of the show.
13.
Diego Sanchez made his post-TUF debut defeating journeyman Brian Gassaway by submission due to strikes at UFC 54 on August 20,2005.
14.
Diego Sanchez next defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale on November 5,2005.
15.
Diego Sanchez won a unanimous decision over John Alessio on May 27,2006, at UFC 60.
16.
Diego Sanchez continued his undefeated streak with a unanimous decision victory over judo specialist Karo Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 6 on August 17,2006.
17.
Diego Sanchez faced Joe Riggs on December 13,2006, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 7.
18.
Diego Sanchez landed a right hook that knocked Riggs down, followed by a running knee that knocked Riggs out at 1:45 of the first round.
19.
Diego Sanchez subsequently tested positive for the agents found in marijuana and was sentenced to a three-month suspension.
20.
Diego Sanchez was then cleared to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 69.
21.
At the weigh-ins for the event, Diego Sanchez shoved Koscheck while they stared each other down.
22.
Diego Sanchez ended up losing a unanimous decision to Koscheck, ending his undefeated run, in a fight that was virtually all stand up.
23.
Several weeks after the fight, Dana White announced that Sanchez was sick on the eve of the fight and almost had to retire when a test came back indicating he had Hepatitis C Doctors eventually concluded the test results were not correct, but could not diagnose his sickness, so the fight went ahead as planned.
24.
The day after the fight Diego Sanchez had a hole in his thigh the "size of a coffee cup" and was diagnosed with a staph infection.
25.
Diego Sanchez made his lightweight debut in his next fight on February 21,2009, at UFC 95 against Joe Stevenson.
26.
Training for the bout Diego Sanchez worked with professional boxers Joey Gilbert and Lupe Aquino, Brazilian grappling experts Xande and Saulo Ribeiro and wrestling coach Bob Anderson.
27.
On June 20,2009, Diego Sanchez won a split-decision victory against Clay Guida at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs United Kingdom Finale.
28.
Diego Sanchez won Fight of the Night honors, his second such award in a row.
29.
Opening up with a seemingly endless barrage of jabs and right uppercuts for the first minute he shook Guida, in the first round Diego Sanchez connected with a head kick that floored his opponent.
30.
Diego Sanchez maintained a superior standup through the first round and the rest of the fight, though Guida rallied and made a contest of the next two rounds in a closely contested match.
31.
Early in the first round, Penn landed a right hand that dropped Diego Sanchez, followed by flurry of punches that almost prompted referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.
32.
Herb Dean called the action to a halt for doctor's advice and the fight ended at 2:37 by TKO, marking the first time Diego Sanchez has been stopped in a fight.
33.
Diego Sanchez returned to the welterweight division and faced John Hathaway on May 29,2010, at UFC 114.
34.
Diego Sanchez rejoined Jackson's Submission Fighting for his next fight with Paulo Thiago on October 23,2010, at UFC 121.
35.
Diego Sanchez picked up Thiago and slammed him to the mat while screaming, Sanchez won the bout via unanimous decision.
36.
Diego Sanchez defeated Martin Kampmann by a unanimous decision on March 3,2011, at UFC Live: Diego Sanchez vs Kampmann in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.
37.
Diego Sanchez was expected to face former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes on September 24,2011, at UFC 135.
38.
However, Diego Sanchez had to withdraw from the bout due to a broken hand and was replaced by Josh Koscheck.
39.
Diego Sanchez then returned to lightweight and faced Takanori Gomi on March 2,2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 8.
40.
Diego Sanchez faced Gilbert Melendez on October 19,2013, at UFC 166.
41.
Diego Sanchez faced Myles Jury on March 15,2014, at UFC 171.
42.
Diego Sanchez faced Ross Pearson on June 7,2014, at UFC Fight Night 42.
43.
Diego Sanchez was outstruck in every round, even getting knocked down in the second, but was awarded the win via controversial split decision.
44.
Diego Sanchez was expected to face Norman Parke at UFC 180.
45.
In January 2015, Diego Sanchez had surgery to repair his collarbone that was broken in training.
46.
Diego Sanchez faced Ricardo Lamas on November 21,2015, at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2 Finale.
47.
Diego Sanchez faced longtime peer Joe Lauzon on July 9,2016, at UFC 200.
48.
Diego Sanchez lost the fight via TKO in the first round, resulting in his first TKO loss.
49.
Diego Sanchez fought promotional newcomer Marcin Held on November 5,2016, at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale.
50.
Diego Sanchez next faced Al Iaquinta on April 22,2017 at UFC Fight Night 108.
51.
Diego Sanchez lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
52.
Diego Sanchez faced Matt Brown in a welterweight bout on November 11,2017 at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs Pettis.
53.
Diego Sanchez lost the fight via knockout in round one.
54.
Diego Sanchez faced Craig White on September 8,2018 at UFC 228.
55.
Six months later, Diego Sanchez faced Mickey Gall on March 2,2019 at UFC 235.
56.
Diego Sanchez was suspended for three months by USADA for tested positive for Ostarine and S-23, the family of selective androgen receptor modulators, where the prohibited substance was found from a tainted supplement.
57.
Diego Sanchez faced Jake Matthews on September 27,2020 at UFC 253.
58.
Diego Sanchez was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone on May 8,2021 at UFC on ESPN 24.
59.
Diego Sanchez posted a few videos on his Instagram account showing disagreements that his trainer, Joshua Fabia had with the commentary team, where Fabia believed that the organization was attempting to slight Diego Sanchez with its coverage.
60.
Fabia's infamous training sessions have been widely covered since Diego Sanchez started working with him, including Fabia chasing his fighters around with a knife.
61.
On May 20,2021, Diego Sanchez announced that he had parted ways with Fabia.
62.
Diego Sanchez hurt Lee's lead leg early in the fight with leg kicks, but would be overwhelmed by Lee's wrestling for a majority of the fight, losing by unanimous decision.
63.
Diego Sanchez was scheduled to participate in a four-man grappling tournament organized by Grapplers Quest at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto, between April 29 and 30 of 2011.
64.
Diego Sanchez lost to Ryan Hall by points in the final round.
65.
Diego Sanchez was scheduled to face Jake Ellenberger at Submission Underground 8.
66.
Diego Sanchez was booked to compete against fellow MMA veteran Jake Shields in a grappling match at High Rollerz 4.
67.
Diego Sanchez signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in November 2022.
68.
Diego Sanchez lost the bout via TKO in the 4th round due to doctor stoppage.
69.
Diego Sanchez was married to Bernadette Diego Sanchez and has a daughter with her.
70.
At the "JacksonWink MMA Fight Night 2" exhibition event on December 1,2017, Diego Sanchez faced Isaac "The Shermanator" Marquez, a man who was born with Down syndrome who dreamed of one day competing in a real mixed martial arts bout.
71.
Diego Sanchez helped train Marquez who dedicated the fight to his late mother who died from dementia.