Diego Sanchez says he wants to beat BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre

Posted on February 13th, 2009

Diego Sanchez is dropping nearly 40 pounds for his upcoming fight on February 21st, and if there is a fighter that can do it and win, it’s The Nightmare. He is one of the most mentally tough fighters in the UFC. He loves challenges and isn’t afraid of anyone as is apparent when saying that he would like to hold both the light weight and welter weight titles at some point in his career.

His drop to 155 seems strange seeing that he is easily one of the next in line for a title shot, but it isn’t at all for Diego.

“The reason I went to 155 is because it’s a challenge, and I knew it was going to take a lot of discipline.”

This opens up a lot interesting scenarios in the 155 division. Joe Stevenson is a very tough fighter but was absolutely dismantled by BJ Penn. If Diego can do the same it could be some real foreshadowing and setup some amazing match ups. There are 3 incredibly dominate fighters at 155, one being the current champ, but Sherk and number one contender, Kenny Florian, are still floating around. If Florian loses to Penn, and if Sanchez can get through Stevenson and Sherk then we could see Florian vs. Sanchez, and if he could come out the winner on the other end, then the title fight that Sanchez is fighting for would be a reality. That scenario would be an awesome lineup of main event fights over the next year so cross your fingers.

Sanchez also commented on BJ Penn’s last performance at UFC 94 saying that he “had zero cardio”, and predicts that when Florian and him fight if Florian can get past the second round with Penn he will win the fight. Although Penn did get dominated, I think Sanchez is missing that if Penn did too much cardio he would have come in too light. Sherk is a cardio junkie and we all saw how BJ handled that. 155 is Penn’s realm and I don’t see him losing his belt for a little while longer.

Thoughts?