Midnight Mania! White Loves Fabia-Free Sanchez, Still Hesitant To Book Retirement Fight

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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It’s been a wild ride for Diego Sanchez. Sanchez has always bee…


UFC 253 Sanchez v Matthews
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been a wild ride for Diego Sanchez. Sanchez has always been a bit on the odd side, sure, but he’s seemed entirely disconnected from reality thanks to the influence of Joshua Fabia, his head coach — or parasitic cult leader — over the last couple years. Fabia’s conflict with UFC saw Sanchez’s would-be retirement bout vs. Donald Cerrone derailed just a few weeks ago, but fortunately, Sanchez has since removed himself from Fabia’s clutches.

Now that Sanchez has distanced himself from the Self Awareness Guru, how does that change his relationship with Dana White and UFC, who paid out his contract rather than continue on with the aforementioned “Cowboy” bout? Per the UFC President, Sanchez’s contribution to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) still holds up after all these years.

“Diego Sanchez can pick up the phone and call me – any of those ‘TUF (1)’ kids. You know what I mean?” White told Yahoo Sports (via MMAJunkie). “I had a falling out a few years ago with Josh Koscheck. If Josh Koscheck picked up the phone and called me, I would talk to Josh Koscheck. If any of those kids needed me, all they’ve got to do is pick up the phone and call me.”

“Diego Sanchez, this will always be his house,” White said. “He will always be a part of the history of this company. As long as I’m here, he’ll always be respected for what he’s done for the UFC and ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ I don’t really follow any of that sh*t. I don’t really follow any of that sh*t. I don’t really care what anybody says. When I tell you I don’t give a f*ck, I could not be more honest when I tell you I don’t give a f*ck. I love Diego Sanchez. I always will. If Diego needs me, all he needs to do is pick up the phone.”

While Sanchez undoubtedly has White in his corner, that doesn’t necessarily mean UFC will offer Sanchez another chance at a retirement bout. He didn’t close the door completely, but White was understandably hesitant about bring Sanchez back into the Octagon.

“I don’t know,” White said. “I honestly don’t know. Even when we were doing his farewell fight, I didn’t love the fact that he’s still fighting. No matter what I do, if I let Diego go, he’ll probably end up somewhere else. You know what I mean? That’s what I was thinking at the time. I love the kid. He wanted one more fight (and) I was going to give it to him. Then, all hell broke loose, and here we are today.”

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