Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez has never been one for subtlety in or out of the cage, so it shouldn’t be too astonishing to hear he went on a verbal tirade on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour.
First, “The Dream” went off on former Jackson’s MMA training partner Melvin Guillard, who recently said he used to drop Sanchez in training “all in time,” per MMA Junkie.
“I was cool with Melvin Guillard until he said that,” Sanchez said. “Maybe he was upset because whenever we fought in training camp, here’s the thing with Melvin. The guy’s an awesome athlete. He’s really explosive, he’s really fast. But the dude’s got a questionable chin. I’ve seen everyone in the gym drop him. I’ve dropped him two times with a straight left. And that’s the truth. The guy’s got a questionable chin. Joe Stevenson dropped him with a jab. Joe Lauzon dropped him with a jab. He doesn’t have an iron chin like me. For him to say he dropped me all the time, it’s a bunch of bulls—.”
Sanchez called out “The Young Assassin” on Twitter over his comments, which Guillard claimed he never said, even though he was caught on video, per Bloody Elbow.
Shortly after the appearance on The MMA Hour, it appeared that Sanchez and Guillard had patched things up.
@DiegoSanchezUFC@nickursomma@JacksonsMMA@IKEVF you will always be fam in my eye’s bro. Bros for life this is a sport that’s all
— Melvin Guillard (@Young__Assassin) October 28, 2013
Sanchez and Conor McGregor have been talking smack to each other on and off for weeks, starting ever since “The Notorious” posted this tweet calling out the who’s who of the UFC featherweight division.
One of the original winners of The Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez is obviously not amused with McGregor‘s antics.
“He’s got the big mouth,” Sanchez replied. “This all started when he put out a tweet that was disrespecting all the top 145ers in the world. And I was just, this is ridiculous. No one’s going to talk back to him? You know, somebody has to put the dude in his place because he has a real mouth. The crazy thing about it is he really believes his own hype. I put out a tweet, notable victories. Who are they? Who are you notable victories? Who are your notable fights? Who are these guys who beat you? You have losses on your record and you act like you’re the Muhammad Ali of Ireland. You have losses on your record. Who are they? C’mon … You have not proved you can wrestle. You have not proved you are legitimate on the ground. What are you going to do when you have Diego Sanchez on top of you ground and pounding you? You have not proved that you are equivalent to that situation. It’s a bunch of crap.”
Sanchez and the rest of the fight world will have to wait a while before they see McGregor square off against a top contender, since he suffered a torn ACL in his latest victory over Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 26 in August.
While it may not be likely, a grudge match between McGregor and the gutsy Mexican-American brawler is possible since Conor has fought at 155 pounds before.
Additionally, Sanchez awaits a fight booking after a thrilling “Fight of the Year” candidate against ex-Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez at UFC 166 10 days ago.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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