UFC releases ‘TUF 1’ winner Diego Sanchez, ending more than 16-year run

Diego Sanchez’s storied UFC tenure has come to an end.

After more than 16 years and 32 fights with the promotion, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner Sanchez has been released from his UFC contract.

MMA Junkie verified news Sanchez (30-13 MMA, 19-13 UFC) had been cut from the roster with a UFC official on Friday.

The official news comes on the heels of a social media post from Sanchez on Thursday indicating he’d parted ways with the promotion. Sanchez said he was “free at last,” and tagged multiple other organizations such as Bellator and ONE Championship.

Sanchez was scheduled to fight Donald Cerrone at UFC on ESPN 24 on May 8, but was removed from the contest on Wednesday with no clarification as to why.

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Not long before Sanchez was out of the bout, he posted an online gripe from October 2020, when he says he and his team were left stranded at the airport in Las Vegas after flying home from his UFC 253 loss to Jake Matthews. Everyone else on the flight back to the States from “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi got their rides from the airport, but the Sanchez team, including coach Joshua Fabia, were left behind.

And Thursday, perhaps portending his free agency announcement, Sanchez posted two lengthy videos from UFC 253 showing Fabia and Sanchez confronting, of all people, the UFC’s broadcast crew over Sanchez’s treatment on previous broadcasts.

Sanchez, under what many have inferred is under Fabia’s guidance, has grown increasingly hostile toward the UFC and his treatment. The 39-year-old started his MMA career in 2002 and never has lost more than two straight fights.

He won the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” at middleweight, then dropped to welterweight, where his wins included one over Nick Diaz. Eventually, he made his way to lightweight, where he fought B.J. Penn for the title in 2009.

Over the years, Sanchez became known perhaps just as much for the demeanor he exhibited through lengthy and odd-to-some open workout sessions, walks to the cage that included a “YES! YES!” mantra, and his often zen-like mentality in interviews as he was for his never-quit spirit in the cage.

And once he hooked up with Fabia, the storyline seemed to shift to be as much about his work with the coach as it was about his performances in the cage. That reared its head again Thursday when Sanchez released videos of Fabia ranting at the UFC 253 broadcast team in Abu Dhabi.

Prior to his loss to Matthews this past October, Sanchez had a controversial disqualification win over Michel Pereira in front of his home fans in February 2020. He took an illegal knee in the third round, and it appeared to critics that his decision to not continue in the fight was based on his knowledge that the knee was illegal and the fight was in the third round and would be a win for him and not a no contest.

Sanchez’s UFC run is now over, but he certainly made his mark. His split decision win over Clay Guida in June 2009 is part of the UFC Hall of Fame “fight wing,” he has the third most fight time in UFC history (6:37:07), is one of eight fighters to step in the octagon 30 or more times, and is ranked in the top 10 for most victories in company history.