Watch: When Diego Sanchez made a disabled fan’s dream come true by fighting him in the cage

Whilst Diego Sanchez has most recently been in the headlines due to his release from the UFC, as well as his involvement with Joshua Fabia, the time he made a disabled fan’s dream come true should not be forgotten.

Sanchez’s career as a mixed martial artist has been a turbulent affair at best. The New Mexico native initially made his name on the first-ever season of the UFC reality show, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). Despite the odds seemingly being stacked against him, Sanchez wound up winning the show and securing a UFC contract.

From there, he went on to have a long and storied career, amassing a 30-13-0 record and fighting for 16 years as a UFC fighter. During his time with the organization, he picked up wins over high-level opposition such as Takanori Gomi, Jim Miller and Clay Guida.

Sanchez’s Ultimate Opponent

However, one opponent who had too much for ‘The Nightmare’ was Isaac Marquez. Marquez, a long-time fan of the UFC and Sanchez who suffers from Down’s syndrome, came to visit Jackson-Wink Academy in 2017, to watch some elite MMA fighters train.

Sanchez himself was training at Jackson-Wink at the time and struck up a friendship with Marquez. The two men agreed to have an exhibition bout, which took place at Jackson Wink Fight Night 2. Marquez won the fight via an armbar submission.

The two men clearly formed a great bond that was evident from several videos posted on Sanchez’s social media:

A Career on the Decline For Sanchez

Whilst Sanchez has been hugely successful at times in the UFC, his career has been on a downwards spiral for some time now. He has not been able to string together anything more than a two-fight win streak since 2009. He holds a 1-3 record in his past 4 fights, with the win coming by opponent DQ.

This lack of form, combined with the fact that Sanchez is now thirty-nine, has led to his subsequent release. At least that is what would appear to be the case on the outside. However, Sanchez was initially scheduled to fight Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone this weekend, until he was released during fightweek.

The bizarre turn of events is due to the actions of Sanchez’s head coach, Joshua Fabia. Fabia is the founder of the ‘School of Self Awareness’ where he attempts to impart his knowledge of health, fitness and healing.

Fabia took multiple bizarre actions in the buildup to the fight, including confronting the event commentators, as well as demanding Sanchez’s medical records from his entire 16 year UFC career. This led to the UFC being forced to release Sanchez under health concerns.

With luck, Sanchez will be able to recoup from his release and continue to grow as both a person and a mixed martial artist.