The saga behind Diego Sanchez’s UFC release is one that carries themes of distrust, confrontation, miscommunication, and now murder.
Last week, Diego Sanchez was released from his UFC contract just days before he was scheduled to have his final bout in the promotion against Donald Cerrone. The fact that Sanchez’s 16-year tenure in the UFC did not only lack a fitting finale but ended with an enormous amount of venom and discord is quite sad, really.
Following a dispute between Sanchez’s manager Joshua Fabia and the UFC regarding Sanchez’s health records and health status, a decision was made by the promotion to cut ties with the veteran. UFC Executive Vice President & Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell requested that Sanchez confirm that he was not experiencing any concerning health effects and that he was fit to compete against Cerrone at UFC Vegas 25. After Sanchez failed to oblige and instead insisted on being provided access to his 16-year medical records while contracted with the UFC, that spelled the end of the extensive promotional run of the first-ever Ultimate Fighter winner.
In the aftermath of his release, Sanchez shared his side of the story, which did not necessarily paint the UFC in the best light. Now that he is no longer affiliated with the promotion and has tarnished the company name with his candor, he now believes his life is at risk (transcription via Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting).
“I’m going to tell you guys frankly right now, I’m fearful for my motherf*cking life,” Sanchez said during an interview with MMA Today on SiriusXM’s Fight Nation. “I’m fearful that this company, this billion-dollar company monopoly, worldwide, is going to come after me. Something might happen to me in two years. Maybe in a couple years. Maybe I wreck my truck. Maybe I, ‘Oh, Diego overdosed, some suicide sh*t.’ I don’t know. But I would not put anything past the level of evil that is within this corporation.”
As fearful as Sanchez already is about his well-being, he feels that he would be in even more danger if he were to share all that he really knows about the dark side of the Octagon.
“If I was to expose some of the stuff that I know about, because I’ve been in this motherf*cker longer than than anybody else, and been the only one that survived the b*tch, that went through the dark tunnel and came out the other side,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez Irate That Dana White Will Not Meet With Him
Many people believe that the story of Diego Sanchez’s UFC release is not really a case of the UFC vs. Sanchez but more like the UFC vs. Joshua Fabia, with Sanchez an unwitting casualty of this conflict. According to Sanchez, this is a foolhardy notion and the fact that UFC President Dana White refuses to even meet with him after all he’s sacrificed for the promotion shows the type of monsters he’s up against.
“All you people don’t get it,” Sanchez said. “And I’m going to say is this. Dana, what’s up Dana? I tried for two years to get a meeting with you. Oh, sh*t, I was the first Ultimate Fighter. Didn’t that show do something for the company when it was $60 million in debt. … And you can’t meet with your boy? … I’ve put 60, 70 hours in the UFC PI just to try to get a meeting with you Dana, but you won’t meet with me, because you won’t hear what I have to say? You don’t want to talk with my batsh*t crazy manager? Why, because he might bring some awareness to what you’re hiding in the dark?
“I’m still open to meet with you Dana. Be a f*cking man. Be a real f*cking boss, when I’ve bled, I’ve sweat, I’ve f*cking cried for this f*cking company. I’ve sacrificed more than you will ever know, and you can’t have 45 minutes?”
Diego Sanchez is now a free agent, and it’s safe to say that he and Dana White will not be having tea time or poker night any time soon to hash things out. On the contrary, if Sanchez’s suspicions are to be taken seriously, the only time he’ll see any UFC representative is the same moment he’ll cease being concerned with his fighting career but instead be focused solely on fighting for his life.
What in the world do you make of these comments from Diego Sanchez?
