The former UFC veteran believes his opponent greased in between rounds.
Diego Sanchez is still very much hoping to get his loss to Austin Trout at BKFC KnuckleMania 3 overturned.
This past Friday, Sanchez suffered a fourth-round TKO loss after the ringside physician recommended the fight be stopped due to several cuts.
After the fight, Sanchez accused Trout of greasing. In a series of videos on Instagram, the UFC Hall of Famer showed Trout having Vaseline applied to his face, neck and shoulders. Since his primary strategy against Trout was to clinch, Sanchez wrote he was ‘cheated out of a fair fight’ because he could not get a hold of his opponent.
“So more proof of Austin Trout’s corner and [Guillermo Perez], a [Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship] employee collaborated to grease him in prevention of my clinch strategy!,” wrote Sanchez. “I took a lot of extra damage in this bout that I shouldn’t have! I hope [BKFC president Dave Feldman] can make this right! He has always been true to me, doing me right! If any lawyers can help me get this loss overturned in time please contact me, this was blatant cheating! They feared what I would have done in the clinch!
“I wouldn’t have took this fight if it was Queeensbury rules I only took it because I watched [Luis Palomino] utilize the clinch by grabbing opponents head and actively striking while grabbing the back of the neck and shoulders! That was the fairness of the match up! I’m no idiot I would not try to box the 5x boxing world champion with no gloves! We agreed on a neutral battle ground. And the video does not lie!”
In an effort to get his loss overturned, Sanchez and his team are now pushing ahead with an appeal with the New Mexico Athletic Commission (NMAC), which is expected to have its next hearing in March.
“We will be filling a formal complaint with the NMAC to reverse the bout,” said Sanchez representative Ricky Kottenstette in a statement to MMA Fighting. “In a sport where clinching is allowed it 100 percent eliminated his chance at implementing a key strategy in his game plan.”
Sanchez is now 0-1 in BKFC. Whether he returns to the promotion remains to be seen.
About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)