Thankfully, there's nothing normal about Diego Sanchez

(This story first appeared in Friday’s USA TODAY.)

DALLAS – For the better part of two hours, mixed martial arts fans at the pre-UFC 171 open-workout session clapped politely, cheered when appropriate and happily accepted both pictures and autographs when the fighters offered.

Then in walked Diego Sanchez.

Not just any Diego Sanchez, mind you, but a Mohawked version of the man sometimes known as “The Nightmare” and other times as “The Dream.” It was hard to tell if the fighter took his cue from the crowd or instead was directing his own symphony when almost instantaneously both Sanchez and the mass erupted in his signature yell: “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Nothing about Sanchez is “normal.” How could it be? Normal isn’t what it takes to earn four Fight of the Night bonuses in your past five Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances. Normal isn’t what brings crowds to their feet, as Sanchez did in his October fight with Gilbert Melendez, even in a losing effort, simply because they know one absolute truth: This man will not quit moving forward until the final bell.

And so, as the yells died down and Sanchez prepared to address the media, no one expected anything to be normal. Not from the man who’s fought – with great success – from 185 pounds all the way down to his current home of 155 pounds.

The expectations were met.

“These fans, that’s my energy,” Sanchez tells USA TODAY Sports. “They fuel me. They drive me to be great. With that, I take every single one of these people into the cage with me, and they’ll be chanting, ‘Diego! Diego! Yes! Yes!’ come Saturday night. And I’ll tell you, you’re going to see me pounding my chest and coming forward.”

Sanchez (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) on Saturday meets undefeated prospect Myles Jury (13-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on the main card of UFC 171, which takes place at Dallas’ American Airlines and airs live on pay-per-view (10 p.m. ET).

Sanchez, who along with UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin was a winner on the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has gone through a nonstop succession of career peaks and valleys since that influential 2005 TV series. But now, he insists he may actually be better than ever, and his latest source of inspiration only makes sense because it comes from the mouth of Diego Sanchez.

“I’ll reveal my secret to you guys,” Sanchez begins. “Diego Sanchez has dedicated himself back to yoga. I have been incorporating an extensive hot yoga program, six days a week, on top of all of my running, on top of all of my wrestling training, on top of all of my martial arts training. I have found the counterbalance to longevity and the health and healing of being a 32-year-old fighter.

“For many years, I got away from it because of religion. I heard somewhere that yoga was bad for you and from the devil, and I got away from it. But the end result, God created us and said our body is a temple. This is excellent for my temple.”

Sanchez credited NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s love of yoga for reigniting his passion in the ancient practice. And while skepticism might be a normal reaction, Sanchez must be evaluated on a different scale, altogether.

Sanchez followed his interview by donning an oxygen-reducing training mask and launching into perhaps the highest-intensity yoga session ever seen at a UFC open-workout event. It stood in stark contrast to the day’s other fighters, who took part in predictable striking and grappling routines. It was bizarre. It was impressive. It was intense.

It was Diego Sanchez.

For the latest on UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Below, hear Sanchez talk about his game plan for his main-card fight against Myles Jury.

view original article >>