Photo: Scott Petersen – MMAWeekly.com
According to a post at MMAWeekly (via a Monday Twitter update), it appears that Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez is contemplating a return to 170 lbs.
“YES IM GOING BACK TO WELTERWEIGHT IM LOVING MY NEW DIET.I WANT KOS OR FITCH BUT ANY TOP GUY WILL DO JUST WANT TO GIVE U FANS THE BEST FIGHT” – [via DiegoNightmare, 1/18/10]
This comes off his fifth-round TKO loss at Lightweight to champion B.J. Penn. at UFC 107. Prior to that loss at 155 pounds, the Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner had seen great success very at Welterweight, going 7-2 overall with his only losses coming at the hands of top five fighters Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. In recent updates, Sanchez mentioned his desire for rematches with both fighters, as well as fellow weight-class jumper Nate Diaz, Carols Condit, Martin Kampmann and Mike Swick.
Sanchez made his 155-pound debut in February 2009 and emerged as the No. 1 contender after a unanimous-decision win over Joe Stevenson and a split-decision win over Clay Guida (in a bout that won the 2009 World MMA Awards “Fight of the Year” category). However, Sanchez then suffered a beatdown and dropped a fifth-round TKO to Penn last month.
