By Jesse Holland
It looks like Greg Jackson's camp has gone from Roman Empire to Last Days of Pompeii in less than a year.
UFCmania.com learned over the weekend that Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez had parted ways with the Albuquerque, New Mexico, training camp and its founder, Greg Jackson.
This morning we were finally able to confirm the departure with Jackson himself:
"Diego is no longer a part of our camp. He left on very good terms. He needs to go to California and reconnect with his family. Right now it's probably the best thing for him. I wish him the very best of luck in the future."
The Jackson camp has been on hard times as of late, with some of its top fighters like Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt and Rashad Evans unable to secure wins in recent Octagon appearances.
Now one of its most successful (and controversial) fighters will join the garibaldi and the dogface butterfly as the latest oddity to call California its home.
While it's easy to jump to conclusions, as of now his significant other Ali Sonoma still resides in Missouri to the best of our knowledge.
It may just be a case of Sanchez trying to refocus and get his priorities in order. No one can take away any of his accomplishments inside the Octagon, but his recent loss to Josh Koscheck (the first of his career) may have been a wake-up call.
I think it's safe to say that he now realizes winning the welterweight championship is not preordained. If it is indeed to be his destiny, then his first step is to do what no one else has done in the UFC: defeat Jon Fitch.
Whether or not the move to California helps him do that is something we may not know until UFC 76.
Then again against a fighter as good as Fitch, it may not even matter.
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