Diego Sanchez says he made 'smart, veteran decision' taking DQ over Michel Pereira

Diego Sanchez is completely comfortable with his disqualification win over Michel Pereira at UFC on ESPN+ 25.

The welterweight co-headline bout, which took place Saturday at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M., was cut short in the middle of the third round when Pereira (22-11 MMA, 1-2 UFC) landed a blatant illegal knee while Sanchez (30-12 MMA, 19-12 UFC) was down on the mat. The referee immediately intervened after the foul, and after a few minutes’ deliberation, the fight was called off.

Despite dishing out a devastating blow to the head that opened a nasty cut on Sanchez’s forehead, Pereira wasn’t immediately disqualified. Sanchez was given time to recover and asked if he could continue, and ultimately he decided he couldn’t. The 15-year UFC veteran received some backlash for not going through with the rest of the fight, but Sanchez said he knows he made the right call.

“Did I quit? No,” Sanchez told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I got hit with a (expletive) serious knee to the head. I knew I was going down on the scorecards, I knew how things were rolling out. I made a smart, veteran decision because I know my face is, regardless or not of the last two minutes of the fight, my face is going to be covered in blood. The image is going to be painted on the judges. I already know. I don’t have a chance of winning that fight anymore. So, did I quit? I made a (expletive) smart decision to not put myself in some real danger where I would’ve been injured when that mother(expletive) hit me with an illegal shot when I was down.”

Although Sanchez was down 20-18 on all judges scorecards going into the third round, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner felt he was doing some good things up until the fight-ending sequence. Pereira wasn’t able to put Sanchez is any serious danger, but was largely controlling the action.

Pereira cost himself the fight on multiple fronts, though. Sanchez admitted the knee that connected to his body prior to the illegal strike to the head caused some significant damage, then the vicious knee put the icing on the cake. Pereira had a good shot at ending the fight with a clean TKO, but instead he got reckless and cost himself a finish, or at worst, a decision win on the scorecards.

Sanchez was quick to point out the blame for all that falls solely on Pereira. When given a choice, Sanchez looked out for not only his well being in the moment, but also for the long term.

“I took a hard hit to the head, but I made the right decision,” Sanchez said. “I knew that maybe I was going down on the scorecards. I knew. But my opponent lost control. He did not have the awareness to notice that I had gone down from a shot to the ribs. That really injured me, that shot to the ribs. It broke two of my ribs completely. I went down. He did not have the awareness that I went down. He threw a fully powered shot to my mother(expletive) dome piece, that split my wig. Split my forehead. I’m not your average human being. It did not knock me out, but did it damage me? Yes.

“How about the blood? How about the scar that’s going to be with me for the rest of my life? How about the blood that’s going to impact the judges? How about all this going forward? What if I get really (expletive) hurt? I made the right decision. I don’t need you guys look down here like, ‘Oh, I might have the biggest heart in the sport but I quit because I was (expletive) scared of Pereira.’ I’ve been doing this longer than (expletive) anybody and I deserve a little respect. If the UFC and the MMA community and the media don’t want to give it to me, I’m going to go (expletive) take it.”

Sanchez said that, despite the cut and damaged ribs, he is in a good place just days after the fight. He intends to continue working with head coach and manager Joshua Fabia from the School of Self Awareness and from there, will figure out his next move.

“When I came out of this fight I’ve never felt in a better head space,” Sanchez said. “It is not for the belt anymore, it is for the platform so I can get these people behind me so that I can find these people, get these people and eventually inspire them, motivate them and help them live healthier and live truly and more powerfully. This is something that’s going to happen with School of Self Awareness and myself. I’m set for life. With this other stuff going on, I’m not going to need fighting and how I finish my career will be on my terms.”