Diego Sanchez

[Headhunter]

So the day before Saturdays fights I commented about how I thought Diego Sanchez was getting badly messed up from his fighting and then he gets knocked out in 98 seconds. Sanchez has always been a tough guy and taken the best shots from some of the best in the world but now he's done. He sounds terrible in interviews and he also told that story about a health scare with his heart and blamed it on his medical marijuana but he needs to hang up before he gets killed. It's a shame because he was a great fighter. In the early days tuf he used his grappling more but later he started thinking he was a good boxer and he had decent standout his best was in the guida and Stevenson fights but after his loss to penn he turned into a pure brawler and it's very exciting to watch but not good at all for long term health.

Sadly I doubt it will happen Sanchez seems like a guy who can't let fighting go. I know he won his last fight before this and sure maybe he can still beat some guys but it's not worth it the guys got kids I'm sure he's made a ton of money why risk not being there for your kids

 

[Buka]

I agree, bro. I think the thing with Sanchez was his training, and not having any direction in it. I remember (not sure when) he trained with Oscar De La Hoya for a while, and in his next MMA fight he tried to move just like a boxer (a poor one) and got smoked. Well, duh, you don't move like a boxer in MMA, you should move like an MMA fighter. I was watching and thinking, "what the hell is this kid doing?"
A pity, he had so much talent, so much fire.

I hope he stops fighting.

 

[hoshin1600]

Diego is always praised for his ability to keep going and never give up. i cant help but think that if you hear that kind of praise over and over it becomes part of who you are or who you want to be. you need to live up to those expectations and not let people down. chances are he will fight untill he just physicaly cant anymore. its a sad fact that fighters love what they do and find it very difficult to quit. fans hate to see people like Rhonda or meisha go but maybe it is really the best thing for many fighters.

 

[Headhunter]

Diego is always praised for his ability to keep going and never give up. i cant help but think that if you hear that kind of praise over and over it becomes part of who you are or who you want to be. you need to live up to those expectations and not let people down. chances are he will fight untill he just physicaly cant anymore. its a sad fact that fighters love what they do and find it very difficult to quit. fans hate to see people like Rhonda or meisha go but maybe it is really the best thing for many fighters.

If he had just stayed as a grappler he'd have been fine. But after his ko of joe Riggs he started believing in his striking to much and while it was good it wasn't anything amazing either. He truly started going downhill after the penn loss. He had some good wins but most of them were controversial decision wins and took far to much damage in the process I mean his fights with kampman, Melendez, Pearson, jury, guida, Hathaway, lauzon all fights he got badly hurt in

 

[Buka]

The fight game is really hard. Love watching it, hopes and prayers for all involved.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Diego is always praised for his ability to keep going and never give up. i cant help but think that if you hear that kind of praise over and over it becomes part of who you are or who you want to be. you need to live up to those expectations and not let people down. chances are he will fight untill he just physicaly cant anymore. its a sad fact that fighters love what they do and find it very difficult to quit. fans hate to see people like Rhonda or meisha go but maybe it is really the best thing for many fighters.

Yeah, it's kind of a systemic problem. If a fighter can get hard in the head without showing much effect, he's praised for his durability and great chin. If he gets visibly hurt, but keeps on fighting then he's praised for his great fighting spirit. A match where both fighters take serious damage which would finish a normal person but both of them keep going and give everything they have to win is glamorized as a "war" and "fight of the night."

These attributes and performances become the basis of a fighters fame and popularity and doubtless become part of the self-identity for many of the fighters involved*. The problem is that there is no such thing as "iron brain" training. Every one of the hard strikes to the head that a fighter shrugs off does a little more cumulative damage. Eventually even the most "indestructible" fighter will develop a glass jaw (not to mentioned slowed reflexes and other more serious neurological issues which can affect their daily life) if he takes enough hits.

I loved the movie Rocky Balboa, but realistically a fighter with Rocky's style of just moving forward while accepting punishment is the last guy who should ever try to make a comeback at an advanced age.

Ideally if a fighter (through fighting spirit or natural durability) weathers a fight where he takes a lot of damage, his coaches should put a lot of focus on improving his skills and game plan so that doesn't happen again. Great, you've got durability. Now let's make sure you don't need it in your next fight.


*I just remembered something from when I was a little kid. I was a skinny kid with a large appetite. I got a lot of comments about "wow, you must have a hollow leg, where do you put it all?" For a couple of years this became part of my self-image. I was the kid who could always eat more and would eat more to prove it. This lasted until a few occasions at the all-you-can-eat buffet where I kept going back for more servings until I ended up puking. Eventually I realized that there was a difference between actually being hungry and trying to impress people with how much I could squeeze in. If I had been getting actual fame and money based on how far I could stuff myself, it might have taken me longer.

 

[Headhunter]

Diego is always praised for his ability to keep going and never give up. i cant help but think that if you hear that kind of praise over and over it becomes part of who you are or who you want to be. you need to live up to those expectations and not let people down. chances are he will fight untill he just physicaly cant anymore. its a sad fact that fighters love what they do and find it very difficult to quit. fans hate to see people like Rhonda or meisha go but maybe it is really the best thing for many fighters.

Similiar thing happened with stephan Bonnar. Obviously a guy known for his brawls but one of his last fights he used his grappling more and was slated for it because it wasn't as exciting as his other fights

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Diego needs to retire and for his health probably should have retired after the Penn fight. However, it is the fight game and it is the only thing he knows so I believe he will keep going until he cannot do it anymore.

 

[Headhunter]

Diego needs to retire and for his health probably should have retired after the Penn fight. However, it is the fight game and it is the only thing he knows so I believe he will keep going until he cannot do it anymore.

I don't think the penn fight was cause for retirement I mean yeah he lost badly but that was to the best version of penn in his career

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Regardless, I don't think Diego is retiring anytime soon.

 

[Headhunter]

Regardless, I don't think Diego is retiring anytime soon.

Seems not ‘Lionheart’ Diego Sanchez vows to return after KO loss to Al Iaquinta