DIEGO SANCHEZ RETURNS TO TEAM GREG JACKSON

The Nightmare has returned to his roots.

Former "Ultimate Fighter" winner Diego Sanchez has returned to Team Greg Jackson as a member of the team, and has already begun training with the squad as of Tuesday.

Representatives at Team Jackson in New Mexico confirmed the news to MMAWeekly.com, after Sanchez posted the news via his Twitter account.

Sanchez was a mainstay at the Albuquerque gym for several years, growing up under the tutelage of Greg Jackson and striking coach Mike Winkeljohn.

When Sanchez left the camp in 2007, speculation had run wild that the New Mexico native had sore feelings about Jackson and the team starting to work with then contender Georges St. Pierre, who continues to train with the squad to this day.

Speaking with MMAWeekly at the time, Jackson said there were never hard feelings and Sanchez would always be a part of their team.

“He’s always a part of the team, but he’s going to train out there for a while. We love him to death, he still loves us; it’s just kind of a thing where he wants to get out there and get to know his boy and live a good life," said Jackson. "He’s such a great kid and we all love him to death, the whole team, and we wish him the best of luck while he’s out there and can’t wait for him to get back.”

Following Sanchez's turn at lightweight where he made it all the way to a title shot against B.J. Penn, he decided to go back to welterweight for his last fight and ran into British phenom John Hathaway.

A unanimous decision loss followed for Sanchez, who will now get back to the training that got him to the dance in the first place to find the right formula to get back to the top.

As previously stated, Sanchez is already in camp with Team Jackson, and will be training there full time as he prepares for his return to the Octagon in October against Paulo Thiago at UFC 121.

I think this will be a great move for him,and after alot of things Diego has said and has been reported to have said,since leaving,due to GSP coming and all that,it's a good show of character for me,for him to have swallowed his pride and returned to the camp and trainers that really made him into the fighter he is(which is one that hasn't really showed a mass of improvement since he left to be honest)

I wonder if he might think about dropping to LW again now?

It's where I'd prefer to see him.

Diego to me looked like a natural 155 lb, Hathaway dwarfed him completely in their fight. I think he can beat alot of guys at 155. Including Aoki (obviously ) Florian, Edgar, Melendes etc... Although not BJ

He was better off with the Ribiero's.

He should go to 155 though. too small for WW.

He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. Too small at 170 but the more technical fighters at 155 are going to show Diego that there's limits to what hyperactive aggression can achieve. He's a factor at 155 but not a title holder, I like quite a few of crisper strikers at lightweight over him. He's versatile so he can hang everywhere the fight goes but not necessarily excell in any one area. I think Florian would have him in a rematch.

A rematch with Florian would be a fantastic fight - it would be great to measure how much Florian has improved by. I remeber Diego looking for the fight while he was still at lightweight.

I wonder what weight Digo will fight at next. Must be tough for him to loose both his title shot and follow up match

I honestly dont think Diego has what it takes to be a title holder in either division. I started typing a huge post of how his return has to be at LW but when i started typing out the list of challengers who he would beat i just couldnt think of any! I think BJ and Maynard dominate him, Florian and Edgar would be closer but i think Florian would outstrike him and UD, i think Edgar would too. I even think that the G-Sot would get the better of him. So if im honest i dont see much of an easier route to the title at 155 as some are suggesting. But then you have WW, where he's lost to two of the top three welters and would obviously suffer the same fate against GSP. I think Shields would Fitch/Kos/GSP him too. But then it gets interesting. Alves, if he stays at WW is also a winnable fight for Diego unless The Pitbull sorts the weight cutting. A Kampmann fight would be fun and could go either way. I love Dan Hardy but i think Sanchez would grind him out ala GSP so IMO thats at least FOUR fighters i see having the better of him at welterweight, and FIVE at lightweight. I honestly see him either getting fed up and calling it a day after another loss or two or just becoming a gatekeeper in the mould of Joe Stevenson.

I think you're under-estimating Diego. I think Penn is the only one at 155 that would beat him. It's just a matter of how well his body handles the cut. He outwrestles the strikers and outstrikes the grapplers and is good enough at both to handle himself against anyone. BJ was at his very best that night.

I honestly beleive Diego is easily a top 5 LW in the UFC,if he goes back to 155 that is,and he would be a hard fight for any of the other top guys,except BJ,but shit,lets be fair,Kenny has been looking outstanding lately against everyone else,but just like Sanchez,he was made to look terrible against BJ and probably would again if they rematch.

I also think Sanchez against,Kenny,Edgar,Gomi,Georgi,Sherk ect will all be instant favourites for the FOTN awards,where as I think with the stronger bigger guys at WW,it's alot easier for them to stifle Sanchez and grind out a slower paced fight,making less interesting fights,IMO he should deffinitely go back to LW,not only because I think he will have more success there,but because I think he can be in far more entertaining fights at that weight.

I'd even go as far to say,if Sanchez fought Maynard at LW,he could force Maynard into an exciting fight........Maybe

And as for Kenny,I've been wanting to see Kenny vs Sanchez for too long now,thats a fight that needs to be made before it's to late.It will be terrible if those two never get to have a rematch.

If he does stay at WW,I wouldn't mind seeing Sanchez take on Nate Diaz,now he has moved up.

Ive finally caught up with the latest news from the MMA world.


UFC 121 looks IMMENSE Im so psyched for it. Who do you guys have Diego or Paulo Thiago? I like them both. Think Paulo will edge a decision win.


Edit: How about this for a stacked card??


Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Cain Velasquez[4]
Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz[5]
Welterweight bout: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann[6]
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago[7]
Heavyweight bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Brendan Schaub [8]
Middleweight bout: Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen[9]
Heavyweight bout: Todd Duffee vs. Jon Madsen[10]
Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Tom Lawlor[11]
Lightweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. Sam Stout[12]

Yeah,without a doubt,that is a fantastic card.

(to be honest I can't remember the last bad card from any Org to be honest,well I can,but it seems so long ago now,we have been really spoilt with some great MMA recently and have really enjoyed them from top to bottom)

I'm a little on the fence with the Diego -Thiago fight to be honest.
I think I'm slightly leaning towards Thiago to be honest,but after watching another well rounded fighter in Kampmann completely school him for 3 rds,I don't think it would be out of the question for Diego to have success either.
(but then again look how poor and how easily dominated Diego was against Hathaway)

I don't know who to go for in this fight I was Thiagos number one fan after he decimated Kos and did the same to Swick but he just seems like hes too easy to take down, and thats where i think Sanchez will shine in this fight. I've been pretty outgoing in my 'Sanchez-bashing' so to speak but i honestly dont see how Thiago can beat him.

Partly because i can't see Thiago replicating the clinic BJ put on and finishing him and partly because Thiago is nowhere near as physical as Hathaway, Fitch or Kos.

Black eye on the 1st day back,maybe Jackson bitch whipped him for leaving in the first place

Still think this is a great move for him,he's got a gym full of great sparring partners to push him and improve him,aswell as greg Jackson,who's always got a good gameplan for his fighters come fight time(something I think has been lacking in Diegos game),all I hope for him now is,that he drops to 155 and I think the nightmare will be back....hopefully