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Diego Sanchez has been a longtime trainee at the Jackson-Wink academy which has produced some of the best fighters the world has ever seen - the likes of Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Holly Holm to name a few.
Sanchez has been in and out of the gym since first splitting with the team in 2007 and he most recently quit the academy in 2019 and started training with his new head coach Joshua Fabia.
It's been a while since he left the gym based in Albuquerque but Sanchez's next fight at UFC Fight Night where he faces Michel Pereira is at Rio Rancho which is his hometown and very close to the gym.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Sanchez revealed he is looking forward to fighting in front of his hometown crowd and that this fight is about him and not the world-famous gym where he once trained.
“This will be a special fight for me. This will be the fight that showcases Diego Sanchez, not Jackson-Wink.”
Sanchez opened up on his decision to part ways with his former team and said that over the years, the head coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn stopped believing in his potential as a fighter and somewhat gave up on him.
“You just need to understand, I was a man with no other option,” Sanchez said. “I had Jackson-Wink, I live here in Albuquerque. I have a daughter that’s here, so there was not another option for me. This was the best that I could get. It’s not even about that. It’s about Greg Jackson and [Mike Winkeljohn] not believing in me. Not giving me the time and energy."
