Diego Sanchez just wants to fight. If there was ever a person among us that truly resembled the picture painted in the Terminator movies (Robot that’s brilliantly disguised as a human, with only one goal and function), it would have to be Diego. His goal? To fight. That’s it. His mission doesn’t quite have all of it’s final details in place, but “The Nightmare” certainly has all of the terminator’s persistence, if not more. Although while the T-800’s relentless assault is courtesy of his CPU (and metal, lots of metal), Diego Sanchez’s stem’s from his heart. The first Ultimate Fighter winner also has something that Arnie’s character didn’t, and that’s preferences. And Diego’s little red eye is currently targeting three individuals. Norman Parke, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor.
Any illusions of Diego being a robot are immediately shattered the minute he begins to speak. While he often does his best rock ’em’ Sock ’em Robots impersonation when he’s in the octagon, outside the cage he remains one of the most sincere and family orientated guys you’ll ever speak to, and this past weekend we got to do just that. Diego Sanchez gets comfy with Submission Radio and talks about Norman Parke’s Callout, wanting to fight Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor and his hype, fighting on UFC’s Mexico card, his old wrestling heavy style as opposed to his more brawling style, training with Heavyweights at Jackson/Winkeljohn’s, a crazy story from his feud with Nick Diaz involving a shoe being thrown, and of course his big trip to Australia to do some seminars and teach Aussie’s the ‘Yes!’ chant.
On Interest in Fighting Norman Parke next
“I don’t know or really understand why Norman called me out. I guess he wants to fight a bigger name and make a name for himself, and that’s understandable.”
“Yeah, you know he’s on a roll, and you know right now I’m like, I’ll fight anybody, I need a fight. I need a fight so I can get motivated, so I can just have that name in the back of my mind everyday waking up thinking about ‘this guy’s training for me!’. So yeah if things come together with Norman Parke, I would love to fight the guy.”
“I need a fight, and I’m not too picky, you know, who I have to fight. Of course the fight that I want is not going to happen. It’s not gonna happen in my next fight anyway.”
“I’m hoping to get on the inaugural show (in) Mexico City, the first UFC in Mexico. I just would like to be a part of that. Me being Latin ethnicity, I would love to be a part of that. I think it’s going to be a very special show.”
On who Diego really wants to fight
“I’m talking about Nate Diaz. I’ve called him out, you know. He’s waiting for a bigger pay day, but you know, I’m a fighter with fighters and he’s trying to make money and I understand that, but it’s like you know, you’ve got to be grateful for what you’ve got, pay your dues. Like Dana White said, the guy, he fought for the title, he lost and (in) his next fight he got knocked out, and then now he’s crying and complaining after he has one big win. And I’m like, ey man there’s a guy sitting right here if you’re so much better than me, then come kick my ass and it’s easy payday for you.”
“He doesn’t want to step up to the plate and give the fans the fight that the fans deserve, and I just know that all the fans would love to see a Diaz-Sanchez 2. And so you know, it’s just a great fight for the fans, and all in all, I fight for the fans. And I love to fight for the fans. I love (it) being that part of my legacy, where I’m a fan favourite and it’s because I put on great shows. And you know, yeah, I know I need to get back to what got me winning, and start beating guys on the ground, but it’s a fun sport and I think that me and Nate Diaz would make a great fight.”
Thoughts on a possible Conor McGregor fight
“You know what man, I don’t know. I would love to fight this guy and he said he’d like to fight me too, so I definitely think it’s possible. I think he’s a great mixed (martial artist). I think he’s really talented, I think he’s really tough, I just don’t agree with people going out there and thinking that, this guy thinks he’s like the Anderson Silva, he claims that he’s the ‘GOAT’, and I’m just like c’mon man you ain’t done enough to claim that. You know, I’m all for believing in yourself, but he’s taking it to the next level, and if he gets past Dustin Poirier then he’s definitely on that level, but you know he has that next tough fight. But if we get a fight, then we get fight.”
“Like as a matter of a fact, yesterday I was in my gym working out, and I was like ‘can I do it? Can I make 145?’ I was like ‘I don’t know, I might have to try. I might have to do it.’ Then I was like, but would be worth it for one fight, to go down to 145? Would it really be worth it? I was like ‘I’m gonna have to do like a 10 day fast, I’m gonna have to really sacrifice to get down to 145. I’m gonna have to lose some muscle’. And I was really giving it some serious thought, I’m like ‘but what if I’m stronger, what if I’m stringy. I’m gonna be long and stringy at that weight’. I was seriously giving it some consideration, and it’s not out of the question. It’s definitely not out of the question”
On Diego’s style change from focusing on wrestling to focusing on striking and where he looks to go next
“I’ll continue to try to get better and better in the stand up, so if I have to stand up, I can handle myself better and win the fight there, if I have to win the fight there. But yeah my strength is on the ground and anybody that’s rolled with me knows that on the ground I’m hard to beat, and especially at 155, I feel like I’m one of the top grapplers in the division. And all my coaches and all the close people around me are like ‘Diego c’mon man, you need to get back to your old ways of taking people down’. And I’m like ‘yeah, I know, I know’, but it’s just (that) when you’re out there and you feel the pressure of the crowd, and it’s like you wanna get that big knock out. Especially for my last fight, I was fighting in front of my home town and I wanted to give them that knock out. I was going for it and it didn’t come, and in the end I probably should’ve went to my wrestling, and to my grappling, and took the fight there. But you know, now I’m getting a little older and I need to fight smarter, and that’s one thing I’ve been working on.”
On the criticism Diego faced after he last fight with Ross Pearson from fans and Dana White
“It’s not the first time in my career I’ve been in that hot seat, and it’s just a part of the sport. And as you get older, and you get more wise, and you get more experience, you’re gonna go through almost every situation there is. And that’s basically the case I’m in. I’ve been in almost every type of fight win, lose, draw, and then in that particular fight, yeah you know, the judges gave me the nod. All I can say is, I went in there and I fought with all my heart, and I left it all in the cage, and it was a close fight, and the judges obviously felt that I won the fight. And you know, I know there’s a lot of people out there who disagree, but there is also a lot of people that supported that decision. And fans on my twitter, I got a tremendous amount of support, of positive feedback from plenty of fans believing that I won round 1 and I won round 3, and you know I’ll give round 2 to Ross. You know, Ross fought very tough and he fought a good fight, and like I said after the fight, I’m willing to give Ross a rematch at anytime. You know if the UFC wanted to put it together, I would love to fight again and give him another opportunity, if that’s what the UFC wanted to do. But the UFC isn’t interesting in doing that, so I’m just going to move forward in my career.”
“I feel I won the fight. I feel I won round 1 and round 3. I put the pressure the whole fight, I was coming after him, going for the finish. Yeah he dropped me round 2, but besides that I didn’t really feel like he was trying to finish me or anything, he landed some body shots. But it was a good fight and I was happy with the result.”
If Diego still eats raw quail eggs
“Hell no! Hell no, I never did and I made a mistake man, I made a mistake man in Dallas. I ate some raw meat and I dunno, I’ll probably never eat raw meat again, you know. Like, my steaks I’m having them medium now, you know. I’m not even going into the medium rare. I was so traumatized after that experience, it was a rough one, but I’m back to health. I learnt my lesson the hard way, let’s just say that.”
Origin of the ‘YES’ chant
“’Yes’ chant, it all comes back to the Tony Robbins seminar, and I learnt the ‘YES’ out there at a Tony Robbins seminar in LA. And it’s something that Anthony Robbins incorporates into his mental strength program, and it’s it’s something that I carried on into my career. You know, the ‘YES’s come out every now and then when I get really excited, but I’m not as hardcore as I used to be with the ‘YES’s, but they do come out when they need to come out.”
Strangest place Diego has does the ‘YES!’ chant
“I’m not sure, but I think maybe probably in the bedroom with my wife maybe?”
On a crazy story behind his and Nick Diaz’s original fight
“When I was gonna fight Nick Diaz, prior to the fight he somehow found my email, and I don’t know how he got my email, but he got my email and it really was Nick Diaz. And he was saying, like two months before the fight, like he’s emailing me just the worst emails, like totally talking shit, saying really, really bad stuff about my Mom, my Dad, my family. Really trying to get under my skin, and he did. And it really was more than just a fight, there was some hate in that fight. And up to the point where before the fight, we were so adamant about killing each other, that he took his shoe off in the pre-warm up and threw his shoe at me, and Greg Jackson had to hold me back, and there was a lot more drama in then people know. And that’s probably the craziest thing was me and Nick Diaz, and the emails, and taking off his shoe, and just the relationship that we had.”
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