The last remaining fighter from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter is no longer with the UFC. Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the promotion has officially terminated the contract of Diego Sanchez (30-13).
Sanchez was set to take on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-15-1, 1 NC) next weekend at UFC Vegas 26. However, we learned earlier this week that Sanchez was out of the fight, but we were not given a clear reason as to why.
After that announcement, a string of odd events occurred. Sanchez took to his Instagram to show his fighter meeting with the UFC commentary and production team from UFC 253.
The Nightmare’s controversial coach Joshua Fabia is seen in the video criticizing the commentary for being disrespectful. There was some back and forth before the video ended.
After that post, Sanchez posted a number of stories including stating that he was forced out of next weekend’s fight by the UFC. Last night, he posted another story with the caption of ‘Free at last’ while tagging other MMA promotions.
What happened with the UFC?
Per Okamoto’s story this morning, it all started out when Fabia requested all of Sanchez’s medical records that the UFC had spanning over the last fifteen years. Seeing how out of character this is, the UFC started their own investigation.
They went to Sanchez’s team and asked about the current state of Sanchez’s health. The UFC pressed on if there are any pressing medical issues regarding his health whether they be short-term or long-term.
Sanchez’s team came back to the UFC and said they couldn’t confirm that and he hasn’t gone through any kind of neurological evaluations recently. When receiving that information, the promotion decided to cancel next weekend’s fight and release Sanchez from his contract.
The release ends and incredible run for Diego Sanchez in the UFC. He won the first season of TUF and had been under the promotion for the last sixteen years. This fight next weekend was set to be his final show, but it looks like he will close his career elsewhere.