Diego Sanchez Talks Jake Ellenberger, Carlos Condit, His Very Hard Head

Let’s be honest, most people don’t stay up at night counting the days until they get to go to Omaha, Neb. But when Diego Sanchez told Bleacher Report, “I get to go to Omaha, Nebraska,” you’d have thought he was on his way to Disneyland.

The difference is, when kids want to go to Disneyland, they aren’t typically thinking of declaring war on Disneyland.  But that’s what Sanchez has in mind for his Feb. 15 fight with Jake Ellenberger in Ellenberger’s hometown for the UFC’s first card on Fuel TV. To Sanchez, his bout with Ellenberger is more than just a fight. It’s geopolitics.  

“I look at this like I’m going to, like, Russia, and I’m fighting Russia," Sanchez said. "I’m going into his backyard. I’m taking the war to him. I’m invading his territory."

Being on the UFC’s debut on Fuel TV is a bit of déjà vu for “The Dream,” who also appeared on the UFC’s Spike TV premier when he fought Kenny Florian in the first Ultimate Fighter show finale, winning by TKO to claim the first shard of glass otherwise known as the Ultimate Fighter trophy. Six months later Sanchez defeated Nick Diaz by unanimous decision.

Seven years later, with UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre injured, Nick Diaz is preparing to take on Sanchez’s teammate Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title at UFC 143 on Feb. 4.  Sanchez, meanwhile, is preparing for Ellenberger, whom Condit defeated.

With each holding a win over the others' upcoming opponents, Condit and Sanchez are in many ways ideal training partners. Sanchez said he and Condit know that if they both keep winning they’ll have to fight each other, but they’re not sweating it now. Sanchez observed, as has been noted often of late in a variety of contexts, that “it is what it is.”

The two Albuquerque, N.M. natives have come a long way since meeting in a hotel room in Juarez, Mexico.

“Carlos, when he fought his first fight I was fighting my third fight in Juarez, Mexico, and we shared a hotel room together. We were sitting in there talking to each other. I was fighting at 185 he was fighting at 155. And we were telling each other how we were gonna be fighting in UFC.  Little did we know. Eight years later we’re here," Sanchez said.

But Sanchez doesn’t have too much time to spend reflecting on the good old days or dwelling on hypothetical future matchups. He has a date with a man who did in less than a minute what St-Pierre couldn’t do in five rounds: Finish Jake Shields.  Sanchez doesn’t take this lightly.

“I feel that I’m fighting the most dangerous fighter in the welterweight division," he said. "He has knockout power, he’s a great wrestler, he’s hungry, he fights extremely hard. I think he’s the most dangerous guy out there. The way he handled Jake Shields.  We saw the way Georges handled Jake Shields, compared to how Jake handled Jake, so you know, I feel like I’m fighting the No. 1 contender.”

That, on top of waging war with Omaha, Neb., is a pretty full plate. But when you’re as hungry as Diego Sanchez, it doesn’t seem like much.