The consequences of Diego Sanchez’s brutal loss to BJ Penn in a lightweight title fight at UFC 107 may be more extensive than previously thought. MMA Weekly reports on an unexpected message posted by Sanchez on his Facebook page:
The New Mexico native on Sunday night left a somewhat cryptic message via his Facebook page stating “going back up to 170.”
When contacted by MMAWeekly.com, Jeff Clark, Sanchez’s manager, indicated that there has been no official decision made at this time about what weight class he will compete in next.
Although he struggled with the top-dog wrestlers at 170, losing to Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck in consecutive bouts, Sanchez was still overall quite successful at welterweight, going 8-2, and riding a two fight winning-streak when he made the drop to 155 in late 2008. There are still many compelling bouts for the Nightmare at lightweight (Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard, Nate Diaz, and perhaps most enticingly, a rematch with Kenny Florian). However, Sanchez has never been one to hide his aspirations for championship glory, and he is probably not content to play the Rich Franklin game and just take big fights to please the UFC.
Furthermore, Sanchez was openly vocal about the difficulties he had making the cut to 155, and even though he never missed weight in any of this three lightweight bouts, he was almost certainly more drained than he ever was at welterweight where he was considered a cardio machine. That combined with the psychological consequences of his destruction at the hands (and foot) of Penn might just be enough to send Sanchez back to welterweight, but the question remains: will he ever be able to get past the wrestlers that hold court at the top of that division, let alone make it all the way to another title shot?
UPDATE: Sanchez confirmed the move on his Twitter account
YES IM GOING BACK TO WELTERWEIGHT IM LOVING MY NEW DIET.I WANT KOS OR FITCH BUT ANY TOP GUY WILL DO JUST WANT TO GIVE U FANS THE BEST FIGHT