Can one beef cost a MMA fight? Diego Sanchez thinks so.
Looking for his first win in a 155-pound fight since 2009, Sanchez failed to get his hand raised at UFC 171 on March 15. The former UFC lightweight title contender dropped a unanimous decision against Myles Jury in Dallas, Texas, and he blames the food he ate the night before.
“I wasn’t myself last night,” Sanchez wrote on Twitter. “I sustained food poisoning from eating a beef tartar with raw quail egg as an appetizer at dinner. This was my own mistake. I ordered it thinking I need red meat but raw was the wrong choice. I threw up first at 2 am and all day fight day.”
“This was not part of the Dolce Diet, I screwed myself,” he continued. “I thought because I had done everything do perfect I could sway a little and it cost me.”
According to the TUF winner, he “didn’t have the strength” to do what he wanted during the bout.
“I was weak and my performance showed it,” he said, “if you notice I don’t go for one takedown, because I just didn’t have the strength.
“Jury and his team fought a good fight against me and they did win, but I wanted my fans to know the truth why I was not all there. Take what you want from it, it is the truth. I made a horrible choice and it’s no one’s fault but mine.”
“People can talk all the s— they want. I didn’t b—- out. I chased him around and fought hard even at my worst. It just wasn’t my night. I’m heartbroken and very, very motivated. It hurts so bad. I’ll be back better than ever.”
Jury moves to 14-0 in MMA and 5-0 under the UFC banner with the win, while Sanchez drops to 24-7. Since cutting down from welterweight, Sanchez defeated Takanori Gomi at a 158-pound catchweight and suffered decision losses to Gilbert Melendez and Jury.