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Diego Sanchez fires at critics over DQ win, says he made a ‘smart, veteran decision’
Diego Sanchez says he made the right call taking the DQ win over Michel Pereira at UFC Rio Rancho.
In the fight, Sanchez was getting dominated, but in the third round, Pereira landed an illegal knee which Sanchez said he couldn’t continue so he was awarded the DQ win. But, he makes it very clear he did not quit.
“Did I quit? No,” Sanchez told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I got hit with a (expletive) serious knee to the head. I knew I was going down on the scorecards, I knew how things were rolling out. I made a smart, veteran decision because I know my face is, regardless or not of the last two minutes of the fight, my face is going to be covered in blood. The image is going to be painted on the judges. I already know. I don’t have a chance of winning that fight anymore. So, did I quit? I made a (expletive) smart decision to not put myself in some real danger where I would’ve been injured when that mother(expletive) hit me with an illegal shot when I was down.”
Diego Sanchez also believes the blame should not be on him but instead on Pereira for throwing the knee. He also says he ended the fight for his well-being in the present as well as the longterm.
“I took a hard hit to the head, but I made the right decision,” Sanchez said. “I knew that maybe I was going down on the scorecards. I knew. But my opponent lost control. He did not have the awareness to notice that I had gone down from a shot to the ribs. That really injured me, that shot to the ribs. It broke two of my ribs completely. I went down. He did not have the awareness that I went down. He threw a fully powered shot to my mother(expletive) dome piece, that split my wig. Split my forehead. I’m not your average human being. It did not knock me out, but did it damage me? Yes.
“How about the blood? How about the scar that’s going to be with me for the rest of my life? How about the blood that’s going to impact the judges? How about all this going forward? What if I get really (expletive) hurt? I made the right decision. I don’t need you guys look down here like, ‘Oh, I might have the biggest heart in the sport but I quit because I was (expletive) scared of Pereira.’ I’ve been doing this longer than (expletive) anybody and I deserve a little respect. If the UFC and the MMA community and the media don’t want to give it to me, I’m going to go (expletive) take it.”
