Former UFC fighter accuses the promotion of having undue influence on Nevada Commission

A former UFC fighter has accused the world's premier MMA organization of having inordinate influence over the local Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), which oversees all events conducted in Las Vegas and also licenses fighters.

Diego Sanchez fought for the Las Vegas-based promotion from 2005 to 2020 and spent those 15 years competing across three weight classes – featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. His last bout inside the octagon was a unanimous decision loss against Jake Matthews in September 2020.

Sanchez has since fought once at Eagle FC and is set to make his debut for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) against Austin Trout at KnuckleMania 3.

The American fighter spoke to bjpenn.com in an exclusive interview and criticized the NSAC for not sanctioning bare-knuckle fighting in the state.

Sanchez insinuated that the latest introduction of Dana White's Power Slap League was very telling of where the commission's priorities lay:

“This is the farthest BKFC has gone West [going to Albuquerque] and of course in their expansion, of course, they want Vegas. But, UFC has the lock on that, they won’t sanction BKFC where they are combat athletes that are skilled fighters and warriors that are trained. But, they will sanction Power Slap where you got a powerlifter that is smacking the hell out of another guy giving him real brain damage.” [h/t bjpenn.com]

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Former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez details his move to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

Diego Sanchez's move to the BKFC has drawn a lot of attention with the ever-growing promotion happy to have a former UFC veteran and a very recognizable name on their roster.

'The Nightmare' has his own reasons for the switch over to BKFC, as he detailed in an interview with MMA Fighting. He spoke of it being a fresh challenge and relishes the opportunity to add to his legacy:

“First and foremost, it’s new and it’s different. I like new and I like different. It’s combat sports, still, so it actually adds a level of value to my legacy. It goes to show that I wasn’t just a MMA [fighter]."

Sanchez also mentioned the lack of respect he gets despite having done it inside the octagon against all-time greats such as Nick Diaz:

“It’s hard for me the criticism that I’ve got throughout 17 years of a UFC Hall of Fame career to get the criticism that I can’t stand up, that I can’t strike when I knocked out Joe Riggs. I had great fights with Joe Stevenson, I stood up with Nick Diaz. I went with B.J. Penn. I slung these hands with the best of them."

Check out his full interview on YouTube: