Diego Sanchez now finds himself caught up in a serious legal mess.
According to KRQE News, Sanchez was arrested in Albuquerque on Thursday after allegedly firing a gun from a moving vehicle as it drove past the scene of a highway crash in New Mexico.
Police intercepted the Jeep Gladiator shortly after the incident and confirmed that the former UFC lightweight title challenger was riding in the passenger seat. While he was taken into custody, the driver was not charged.
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Although Sanchez initially denied firing the weapon, he did tell officers there was a gun in the backseat on the driver’s side. However, when police searched the vehicle, they found three rounds near the passenger seat and a black handgun stuffed into the back pocket of the driver’s seat.
The driver, who said he was simply giving the MMA veteran a ride home, told police that Sanchez fired the gun out of the window from the passenger seat and noted that the 43-year-old Albuquerque native began laughing during the incident.
Diego Sanchez is now facing two criminal charges: a fourth-degree felony for allegedly shooting at or from a motor vehicle without causing bodily harm, and a misdemeanor count for the negligent discharge of a deadly weapon.
Diego Sanchez secured his UFC contract in April 2005 by stopping Kenny Florian via TKO to become the inaugural middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 1. "Nightmare” quickly earned a reputation as one of the promotion's most relentless fighters. His impressive run eventually led to his first UFC title shot against then-lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 107 in December 2009, where he suffered a TKO loss.
After an up-and-down run across multiple weight classes, Sanchez made his final Octagon appearance at UFC 253 in September 2020, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Jake Matthews.
"Nightmare's" last outing in combat sports came nearly three years later at BKFC: Knuckle Mania 3 in April 2023, where he suffered a loss to veteran boxer and future bare-knuckle champion Austin Trout.
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