Diego Sanchez has been in the fight game for over seventeen years. In that time he has taken part in 41 professional bouts. Each camp, each fight week and each fight has develop Sanchez into one of the most seasoned and interesting fighters on the roster. His UFC 235 opponent, Mickey Gall, has only six pro fights to his name.
“Nightmare” believes that the gap in experience gives him a massive advantage in Saturday’s and he has a clear message for Gall heading into Saturday’s welterweight match-up.
“Mickey Gall. There’s levels to this s*** and it’s been 15 years in the UFC building my levels,” Sanchez said. “And that’s time. That’s energy, that’s blood, sweat and tears. That’s facing defeat and having to come back and never quit and never stop. And that’s something that you don’t know about.”
After defeating George Sullivan by rear naked choke back at UFC Lincoln, Gall took to the microphone to call out Diego Sanchez in his post-fight interview. Sanchez was more than happy to oblige Gall’s request knowing that he would be giving away some size in a fight with Gall, but it’s not something that Sanchez is worried about.
“At 170 I feel primed for success. I’m excited for this fight. I get to fight another young up and comer and he’s gonna have me on five six inches,” Sanchez said. “He’s gonna have me on some reach and he’s gonna have me on some weight definitely. But for me now that doesn’t matter. I’m now outside the box type of guy. I’m the David in the Goliath division and I have I have zero fear going into fighting a bigger man because Diego Sanchez’s career started in the streets.”
Sanchez brings an incredible intensity to everything he does, he oozes passion with every interview and faceoff. That fire is what makes him a fan favorite and when asked what he’s bringing into the Octagon on Saturday his answer is what you’d expect.
“I know I’m definitely gonna make a statement on Saturday night,” Sanchez said. “I’m bringing blood, I’m bringing vicious, I’m bringing no mercy. You ain’t my friend, you ain’t my sportsman. You ain’t my martial arts competitor. You’re my enemy and I’m here to crush you. Crush you had like a grape and that’s about it.”
Sanchez definitely brought that in his last fight against Craig White at UFC 228. Sanchez dominated Craig White for 15 minutes, showcasing his cardio and devastating ground attack on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Now another rising fighter hopes to make a name off the UFC stand-out. Sanchez, along with his years of experience, believes that he will be too much too soon for the fighting product out of New Jersey.
“There’s levels to this shit and you’re down here and I’m up here and that’s all there is to it,” Sanchez said. “I’m excited and I’m grateful for the UFC for giving me this fight to go in there. And be the bigger brother beat down on this little man.”
Watch Sanchez take on Gall this Saturday at UFC 235 during the UFC 235 prelims on ESPN at 8pm/5pm ETPT.
Order UFC 235 here: https://www.ufc.tv/video/ufc-235
Gavin Porter is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com, follow him on Twitter at @PorterUFCNews.
