Following a controversial split-decision win over Takanori Gomi (34-9 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC on FUEL TV 8 event, Sanchez (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) laid out his plan.
“The fight I want right now, and he has a fight lined up, but I want Nate Diaz,” Sanchez told FUEL TV’s post-event show. “I want to be the first one to say I beat both the Diaz brothers. I’ve got the bigger brother on my resume already, so I want to get in there and get the younger brother.
“It’s just a great fight, and that’s who I want to fight.”
Sanchez, who narrowly edged Nick Diaz in 2005, returned from a yearlong layoff to defeat Gomi on the FUEL TV-televised main card of UFC on FUEL TV 8, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. However, major media outlets unanimously scored the fight in Gomi’s favor, according to MMADecisions.com. MMAjunkie.com scored it 30-27 for the Japanese fighter.
However, Sanchez, who returned to lightweight after a run at welterweight that included three consecutive “Fight of the Night” bonuses, believes he won the fight. He takes special pride in doing so against a fighter he felt was in vintage form from his prime days as a longtime PRIDE titleholder.
“I don’t feel that this victory was given to me; I feel I earned it,” he said. “I went out there and did more damage and got the first round. Takanori Gomi, don’t take anything away from that guy. He’s a legend for a reason. It was the legend version. This was the Japan version of Takanori Gomi. This was Gomi, fighting in in Japan, in front of his people, in front of his crowd. That was the legend that was the PRIDE champion.”
As for Nate Diaz (16-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC), who’s scheduled to fight Josh Thomson (19-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 7 in April, Sanchez said he wants the fight for a simple reason. Prior to this weekend’s bout, he said he knows the clock is ticking on his career. So now is the time to get the fights he wants.
“I know I only have so much time in the sport, and I want to make the most of it,” he said.
For complete coverage of UFC on FUEL TV 8, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
