Diego Sanchez is ready to make his bare-knuckle boxing debut and has an opponent in mind should he earn a decisive win against Austin Trout at BKFC KnuckleMania 3 on February 17.
While speaking with MMA Junkie, Sanchez revealed that although he'd like to fight Nate Diaz, he doesn't believe the Stockton native wants any part of him. He mentioned that the reason Diaz hasn't been too keen on fighting him has to do with his brother, Nick Diaz.
He said:
"Nate won't fight be cause I beat his bigger brother. He idolizes his bigger brother in this weird way and I've been trying to fight Nate {Diaz} for 10 years. But if this performance {against Austin Trout} can be so epic and so powerful and so dominant - and it will be - I have a chance at snagging that Nate Diaz fight." {17:11 - 17:39}
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'The Nightmare' added that he would love to be the first fighter to defeat both Diaz brothers. He mentioned that a fight between the two will depend on Diaz because he will accept the most lucrative fight, which is understandable, saying:
"That's what we're trying to do. Fight, get paid the most we could get paid to do the fight. That's the business of mixed martial arts and boxing, all this sh*t. So, he's got Conor McGregor, he's got Jake Paul, and he's got Floyd Mayweather. He's got those three fights that could possibly be big huge paydays for him, so I'll be around, man." {18:00 - 18:26}
It will be interesting to see how Sanchez performs in his BKFC debut. He revealed that he still plans on competing, so his performance could be a deciding factor in his future plans.
Check out the full interview:
Diego Sanchez has a win against Nick Diaz
Diego Sanchez is a legend in MMA and one of the reasons why he wants to fight Nate Diaz is so he can be the only fighter to beat both Diaz brothers.
'The Nightmare' fought Nick Diaz at the TUF season 2 finale on November 5, 2005. It was an excellent performance for Sanchez, who earned a unanimous decision after all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in his favor.
With the win, 'The Nightmare' remained unbeaten and improved his MMA record to 14-0. Meanwhile, Diaz fell to 11-4 and went on to lose his next two fights before departing the UFC.
Despite a great career that saw him win the first season of TUF as a middleweight, 'The Nightmare' was unable to capture a UFC championship in his lone title opportunity as he lost to then lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 107.