Ahead of his bout with Mickey Gall at UFC 235, Diego Sanchez reveals what the ‘Nightmare’ nickname means to him, and why he’s no longer ‘The Dream.’
Las Vegas, NV — Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez returns at UFC 235 against Micky Gall. It was another callout for Gall, and another fight in the lengthy career of Sanchez, winner of the original Ultimate Fighter. Sanchez has been in some wars over the years, and at 37 years of age there’s a valid question as to how many more outings the New Mexico based fighter will have.
Still, the three-time fight of the year winner has more to offer. And back at welterweight, where he has gone 1-1 since 2017, there are no more dreams. Only nightmares, for his opponents.
“It’s authentic. Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez is one hundred percent authentic,” he said of his nickname. “It is who I came into this sport representing. Who I am.”
As to what it really means, “it’s about putting beatings down on people so bad, that they don’t want a rematch. That’s a real nightmare.”
“It’s about having such a level of conditioning that you’re fighting somebody who’s not getting tired, and you are. That’s a nightmare.”
“It’s a relentless man that’s on top of you, and you can’t get him in your jiu-jitsu, you can’t get him in your jiu-jitsu and he’s beating the hell out of you, and he hits you in the body and he takes your air,” Sanchez continued.
“It’s who I am. I tried being Mr. Nice Guy. I tried being ‘The Dream.’ I tried being someone I wasn’t. I lived unauthentic for a while, and it hurt my career,” he stated. That would be the spell where he became ‘The Dream.’ “From now on, from here, for the rest of my career, it’s Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez.”
What the means is that “there’s no playing games in there, there’s no smirking and smiling, there’s no shaking hands. If you want to be friends after the fight, we can be friends after the fight. I respect you as another warrior. But leading up to the battle, it’s go time, it’s game time. We ain’t friends, we’re enemies.”
The next enemy up is Mickey Gall at UFC 235. The event goes down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
