Photo by Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC
Diego Sanchez on UFC title hopes: “It’s my time”
Diego Sanchez is one of the longest tenured fighters in the UFC, having been with the company since the first season of TUF.
Having endured the highs an lows of winning and losing like any veteran of a sport, Sanchez is still hanging around.
After most recently moving to the UFC’s 170-pound division, after an extended up-and-down run at 155, Sanchez looks for this jump to welterweight to pay large dividends.
Unfortunately for Sanchez, that hasn’t happened yet, as he’s already got two back-to-back losses to both Matt Brown and Al Iaquinta.
Don’t let this fool you, he’s not done, as this Saturday night at UFC 228 Sanchez will get a chance to get on course at 170 lbs, when he faces off against dangerous brit Craig White.
Going into the fight, Sanchez feels he’s much in the prime of his MMA career despite losing two bouts in a row, and also believes a long awaited UFC title shot could be in his future.
“I’m chasing after my destiny to become the UFC champion,” Sanchez told E. Spencer Kyte of UFC.com, explaining that he draws inspiration from Michael Bisping’s late-career UFC title win. “I’m looking to do a Michael Bisping story, but it’s the Diego Sanchez story and it ends differently than the Michael Bisping story because it ends with that belt around my waist and it ends with me giving all the glory to God for all the trials and tribulations.”
“I’m still durable,” Sanchez continued. “I’m still energized and I am 100 times the fighter than I was at UFC 107 when I stepped into the cage with BJ Penn. It felt good to look back and see the 27-year-old Diego and now the 36-year-old Diego and think about how they would match up. This 36-year-old Diego would finish the 27-year-old Diego.
“I’m more confident than ever. My mind is right. I’ve had the time to assess my losses, all of my situations, where I’m at as a mixed martial artist at 36 and I feel like I’m in my prime. It’s 100 percent my time. I’m coming into this fight more confident than I have ever been.”
