Diego Sanchez retains a special place in the hearts of UFC fans worldwide, not only for his victory on The Ultimate Fighter season 1 – but for the sheer weirdness that followed.
From insane walkouts carrying a bejeweled crucifix to literally hanging upside down as his so-called ‘trainer’ punched him in the head, it’s safe to say that Diego Sanchez is one-of-a-kind.
Ahead of VICE TV’s premiere of ‘Dark Side of the Cage: The Fighter and the Guru’, it’s time to revisit the insanity that one of Joe Rogan’s favorite fighters brought to the octagon.
Joe Rogan celebrates the ‘craziness’ that Diego Sanchez brought to the UFC
Diego Sanchez might not be remembered as one of the best fighters in UFC history, but when it comes to pure, unadulterated entertainment, there’s only a handful of athletes who could match the craziness of the ‘Nightmare’.
Speaking with former UFC fighter and now Global Fight League athlete Kevin Lee back in 2019, the popular commentator would explain that one of the reasons why he adored Sanchez is because despite all the ups and downs, he never once lost his passion for violence.
“That [dip in form] keeps a lot of guys from having the same enthusiasm and passion that they had when they were 22 and they pictured themselves on the cover of Fighter’s Only Magazine…
“When that dream has been shattered, and you’re just a really good fighter, some people lose their enthusiasm for the game… And then there’s Diego Sanchez, who doesn’t seem to give a f*** about any of that and is just there to wreck people”
Lee couldn’t help but giggle as he admitted “Diego is out of his mind for sure,” before Rogan noted that when it comes to cage fighting, “There are all different kinds of crazy, right?
“I mean, when I saw Diego maul Mickey Gall, I was like ‘God damn, look at this guy, he’s lost zero enthusiasm in all these years of fighting’. And you got to realize, that guy won The Ultimate Fighter season 1 in 2005 and now we’re 14 years later – that’s crazy.”
What’s just as crazy is the long, long list of names who Sanchez had stepped into the cage against, including Kenny Florian, Nick Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Clay Guida, Al Iaquinta, Matt Brown, Jim Miller, Mickey Gall, Michael Chiesa, Michel Pereira and finally, Kevin Lee.
Sanchez fought in the UFC for 15 long years from 2005 to 2020
Diego Sanchez’s longevity in the UFC is the stuff of legend.
After making his promotional debut in the series 1 finale of TUF in 2005, the ‘Nightmare’ would refuse to hang up the gloves until 2022 – and even then, Sanchez still took a BKFC fight the following year.
“You think about all the people he beat who have long since retired,” continued Rogan.
“Remember when he used to walk to the octagon screaming ‘YES, YES, YES’ – I would love it, he’s so f****** crazy but in the best way, the absolute best way.
“He’s still one of my favorite guys to watch,” said the UFC commentator, who in an earlier interview with Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin, acknowledged that there simply aren’t many fighters like Sanchez left in the game.
“When he beat Micky Gall that way, I was incredibly impressed, I thought this kid might test him and he didn’t test him at all; [that was a] prime Diego Sanchez performance, 15 years into the game, and that’s just in the UFC – he had fights before the UFC, he’s been here for 14/15 years.
“It’s just so amazing that he’s still so enthusiastic about it still. That’s a long time in a combat sport [and] a huge deviation [from the norm].”
Sanchez left the UFC in 2020 with a promotional record of 19-13, although his wider professional MMA record stands at 30-14 – the ‘Nightmare’ episode of ‘Dark Side of the Cage’ premieres later this week.