Diego Michael Sanchez (born December 31, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
A professional competitor since 2002, he has also formerly competed for King of the Cage, where he was the Welterweight Champion, and also won the Middleweight tournament of The Ultimate Fighter 1.
Sanchez has been involved in more "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter in mixed martial arts; his first against Karo Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 6, then again opposite Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale (which culminated into a title shot against then-UFC Lightweight Champion B.J.
Penn, where the two headlined UFC 107), and finally against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 166.
He is also one of only three fighters in history to compete in four different weight classes in the UFC: Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight the others being Kenny Florian, and BJ Penn (who has competed in Feather, Light, Welter and Middle weights classes).
Joe Rogan has frequently referred to Sanchez as the best "third round fighter" in MMA along side Yoel Romero.
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