The winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Diego Sanchez, recently did an interview with Fight Hub TV where he said that he would like to be head coach on the show opposite none other than BJ Penn.
“…I would love to coach that show right now. I would like it to be against BJ (Penn); he is back at welterweight, let’s go do it and have a rematch, I think it would be great,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez fought Penn at UFC 107, when the cageside doctor stopped the fight in the middle of the fifth round. Penn had decimated the MMA Jackson fighter the entire fight with his crisp boxing, opening up a massive cut over Diego’s eye.
That was easily the most one-sided loss of Sanchez’s nine-year fight career. However, bear in mind that loss was at lightweight, and Sanchez indicated that he would like the rematch to take place at welterweight.
“The Prodigy,” however, announced his retirement after getting picked apart by Nick Diaz’s boxing at UFC 137, despite Penn definitively winning the first round.
Penn is 1-3-1 in his past five fights, with his sole victory coming against old welterweight foe Matt Hughes at UFC 123.
However, the former two-division UFC champion backed off definitive retirement talk on Halloween, posting a statement to his fans on his official website, BJPenn.com:
“I want to thank all the fans for their love and support. I have decided to take some time off to enjoy life, train and teach. I will keep you guys posted with what’s next.”
Would a coaching opportunity on TUF that culminates in a showdown against an opponent he soundly defeated just a couple years ago be enough to entice the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt back into the fight game?
Only time will tell, but this is certainly an interesting proposition by Sanchez.
The former “Nightmare” was scheduled to fight Matt Hughes at UFC 135, but had to bow out after breaking his hand about a month before the fight.
His last fight came at UFC Live in March, where he won a controversial unanimous decision over Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann.
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