Diego Sanchez

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Diego Sanchez
Statistics
Nickname	Nightmare
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Nationality	American
Born	December 31, 1981 (age 25)
Fighting out of	Albuquerque, New Mexico
Town of birth	Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fighting style	Gaidojutsu
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	17[1]
By knockout	5
By submission	8
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez (born December 31, 1981 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is a mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling and Gaidojutsu—a system of submission wrestling developed by his longtime trainer Greg Jackson. Sanchez currently fights as a Welterweight with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Contents 1 Background 2 Mixed martial arts career 3 Personal Life 4 MMA record 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Background

Diego Sanchez began practicing martial arts at age 9 and started wrestling in 6th grade. As a senior at Del Norte High School, Sanchez won the state wrestling championship in the 152-pound weight class. More than 2 years after graduating high school, Sanchez began training in mixed martial arts with instructor Greg Jackson, at Jackson’s Gaidojutsu.

[edit] Mixed martial arts career

Sanchez made his MMA debut in 2002 and fought in smaller shows, mostly the King of the Cage promotion. His UFC debut came when he was chosen as a participant on the first season of the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. He won a contract with the UFC after winning a fight against Kenny Florian, becoming the Middleweight winner for the first season of the show. Shortly after, Sanchez dropped to Welterweight, defeating Brian Gassaway, Nick Diaz, John Alessio, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs.

Sanchez's last fight before his loss to Josh Koscheck was against Joe Riggs on December 13, 2006 at UFC Fight Night 7. Sanchez landed a right hook that knocked Riggs down, followed by a running knee that knocked Riggs out. Sanchez won at 1:45 of the first round, scoring the first knockout of his career. Sanchez was cleared to fight Koscheck after serving a three-month suspension following a failed drug test where Sanchez tested positive for the agents found in marijuana.^[2] At the weigh in for UFC 69, Diego shoved Koscheck while they stared each other down.

Diego's perfect record came to an end at UFC 69, due to his loss against Josh Koscheck. In a post-fight interview with Koscheck conducted by Sherdog, Koscheck stated that he hates Diego and referred to him as "Dirty Sanchez". [1]

[edit] Personal Life

He has 2 brothers, Felipe and Jesse, who are 23 and 17.

[edit] MMA record

17 Wins[1] (5 (T)KOs 8 Submissions 4 Decisions) 1 Loss 0 Draws [2]
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round, Time
04/07/2007	Loss	Josh Koscheck	UFC 69: Shootout	Decision (unanimous)	3, 5:00
12/13/2006	Win	Joe Riggs	UFC Fight Night 7	KO (knee)	1, 1:45
08/17/2006	Win	Karo Parisyan	UFC Fight Night 6	Decision (unanimous)	3, 5:00
05/27/2006	Win	John Alessio	UFC 60	Decision (unanimous)	3, 5:00
11/05/2005	Win	Nick Diaz	UFC TUF2 Finale	Decision (unanimous)	3, 5:00
08/20/2005	Win	Brian Gassaway	UFC 54	Submission (strikes)	2, 1:56
04/09/2005	Win	Kenny Florian	UFC TUF Finale	TKO (strikes)	1, 2:00
06/12/2004	Win	Jorge Santiago	KOTC 36	Decision (unanimous)	3, 5:00
05/15/2004	Win	Ray Elbe	KOTC 35	Submission (strikes)	1, 1:07
04/10/2004	Win	Travis Beachler	Pride of Albuquerque	TKO	3, 0:35
02/28/2004	Win	Cruz Chacon	Independent Event	Submission	N/A
08/03/2003	Win	John Cronk	KOTC 26	Submission (kimura)	2, 1:30
06/14/2003	Win	Rene Kronvold	KOTC 24	Submission (arm bar)	1, 3:39
05/16/2003	Win	Mike Guymon	KOTC 23	Submission (arm bar)	1, 4:57
02/21/2003	Win	Jake Short	KOTC 21	TKO (strikes)	1, 2:34
12/15/2002	Win	Shannon Ritch	KOTC 20	Submission (rear naked choke)	1, 1:01
09/06/2002	Win	Jesus Sanchez	Aztec Challenge	TKO	1, N/A
06/21/2002	Win	Michael Johnson	ROF 5	Submission (rear naked choke)	N/A

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} This record does not include his exhibition fights on The Ultimate Fighter. His UFC record includes these two fights, and thus lists his record as 19-1, which is incorrect.
2. ^ UFCJunkie.com. "Report: Diego Sanchez Tested Positive for Marijuana in Post UFC Fight Night 7 Drug Test", 2007-03-22. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.

[edit] External links

• Official Diego 'Nightmare' Sanchéz homepage
• Professional MMA record

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 1
Stephan Bonnar | Kenny Florian | Forrest Griffin | Sam Hoger | Alex Karalexis | Josh Koscheck | Chris Leben | Nathan Quarry | Josh Rafferty | Diego Sanchez | Christopher Sanford | Alex Schoenauer | Lodune Sincaid | Bobby Southworth | Mike Swick | Jason Thacker Coaches: Randy Couture | Chuck Liddell