In his first interview since losing to Josh Koscheck at UFC 69, a medicated and sleepy Diego Sanchez offered up a few reasons for his lackluster performance on Sherdog radio this afternoon, refusing to make excuses for his first career defeat.
Here are some of the highlights:
- The "Nightmare" suffered a staph infection in his right thigh after the the bout, which required medical attention and surgery to cut out the abscess.
- He was too relaxed before the fight and didn't fight with tenacity. His mind wasn't where it needed to be -- he wasn't prepared to kill.
- During the fight, there was some 'mental block' that he felt he was going to end the bout with one punch. He said it was some sort of daze. As a result, Sanchez let the fight get away from him. He feels that he beat himself and didn't get beat by Koscheck.
- Sanchez had a great camp and was in great shape for the bout. His timing was just off and he wasn't himself. He feels good that he didn't get knocked out or submitted. He has no excuses and he apologized to his fans numerous times, saying he will be back.
- Sanchez said he learned a valuable lesson. He's going to chalk it up to a learning experience. He's going to let Koscheck have the win -- he got the job done -- and enjoy it. Because the next fight will be a mixed martial arts bout. And all he can think about is getting revenge. He held back — a mistake he will never do again.
- He wants to fight a soon as possible. In fact, he said he was already offered to fight on June 11 (that's a Monday -- it might have been the painkillers talking). He needs to sit down and see what he wants to do next.
- On his marijuana suspension, Sanchez feels bad about the result. he said he was going through some tough situation and he made a mistake. In fact, he said, "some people get drunk and some light up." Regardless, he admitted it was a big mistake that it won't happen again. He had to learn the hard way.
- There were no repercussions for the weigh-in incident, during which Sanchez shoved Koscheck and caused a big scene.
During the broadcast, Josh Gross mentioned that he "heard" Koscheck tested positive for mushrooms. That's certainly not an official result -- heresay, really.
But, it's worth passing along just in case we hear something down the road.
Get the latest gear
