Coming off back-to-back losses across two weight divisions, Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (21-4) is looking to make a big statement when he steps into the octagon against Paulo Thiago Saturday night in the opening bout of the UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez pay-per-view.
Sanchez had a successful run at 155 till he was soundly defeated by BJ Penn for the lightweight title at UFC 107. The former TUF 1 winner then returned to 170, looking to make a successful return against John Hathaway at UFC 114, but suffered yet another defeat.
Now the “Nightmare” has gone back to his wrestling roots, realizing after his loss to Hathaway that “wrestling wins fights” and plans to return to his base against Thiago at UFC 121.
“I worked hard to become a better striker, put all of my focus into striking, and that hurt my wrestling. Ask any wrestler and they’ll tell you that it’s not that you forget to wrestle, it’s just sometimes you don’t remember to wrestle…My thing is I want to fight big-name fights. I want to fight big fights that will be good for the fans, good for me and good for my career — good for everybody. I want wars. I want people who will give me that fear factor.”
HT: LasVegasSun.com