Long-time veterans Diego Sanchez (27-8) and Al Iaquinta (12-3-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) are tough, very well conditioned athletes and they will square off in the co-main event on Saturday April 22, at UFC Fight Night 108 inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Sanchez is looking for his second straight win after recently defeating highly skilled Marcin Held and showing that he has no plans of slowing down or retiring.
Also, Laquinta's aim is to continue fighting top ranked contenders in the UFC after been absent from the octagon since April 4, 2015, according to MMA insight, first, he needs to get past ring-rust and Diego. Early in his carrier Sanchez was the original winner of the Reality Tv Show "The Ultimate Fighter" season one, but right after that he was sentenced to a three-month suspension for a positive marijuana test.
Diego is one of the few working cast members who was on TUF
His background was in wrestling and Sanchez has fought in the lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight divisions of the UFC.
He has more "Fight of the Year" awards than any other MMA fighter. During the reality TV show he beat well know mixed martial artists Kenny Florian and Josh Koscheck. He was the most focused middleweight warrior anybody had ever seen but he was the "weird one" in the house. Diego did yoga at strange times and called himself the "Zen Master." Also, he would go outside during a lightning storm to get energy from nature.
Sanchez is no stranger to cannabis
In the beging of his carrier, Sanchez tested positive for marijuana and was suspended; but later he was cleared to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 69. Recently, Diego had a big scare in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the gym, he was training with Jon Jones and felt a sharp muscular pain in his heart and dropped to the floor!
He had just gotten a medical marijuana license and admitted that he was high during training and knew the injury was because of cannabis in his system. Diego felt something serious and was terrified -- he though that his carrier and life was over.
Diego Sanchez earned his past eight victories by decision but Sanchez has taken in a large amount of total head strikes during his UFC career. He has the second most among fighters like B.J. Penn and third most overall in history after Tito Ortiz. Al Laquinta is a terrible match up for Sanchez; he has a strong wrestling background and is a very good boxer always looking to counter strike. Diego cannot get wild inside the octagon because Laquinta will be looking for his chin.