UFC on FOX 24's Andrew Sanchez learning to chill out and say screw it

Early in his professional career, UFC middleweight Andrew Sanchez remembers feeling exhausted before he ever stepped in the cage.

“I was one of those nervous fighters, a ton of nervous energy, a ton of stress, and it’s tiring,” Sanchez (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who on Saturday meets Anthony Smith (26-12 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC on FOX 24, told MMAjunkie Radio. “Mental stress is one of the most exhausting things you can deal with, so I know first hand.”

All Sanchez could do to get past it, he reasoned, was to get more experience under his belt. Now 11 fights into his professional career, the nerves have dissipated some, though there’s more than one way you can come into a bout less than focused on the task at hand.

Jawing with your opponent is a sure way to take your eye off the ball, which is what happened when Sanchez fought Kevin Casey under the RFA banner. A first-round knockout loss followed.

“I think I let a little bit of that get to me,” Sanchez said. “I was absorbed by all the drama and trash talk, and it kind of took my focus away – not to mention, he was juiced out of his mind. Since then, I’ve been much more relaxed. I kind of keep to myself and just focus on the fight, and it’s been working out for me.”

Four straight wins attest to that, including two in the UFC. Today Sanchez heads to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., for a UFC Fight Pass-streamed bout against Smith, a highly experienced veteran with bruising muay Thai skills.

A full-time fighter, Sanchez is enjoying the mix of extreme duress and relaxation that comes when you spend your life training in a gym and trying to recover afterward. It’s the process of getting ready that keeps him sharp, something he doesn’t always see in his colleagues. Light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is one that comes to his mind.

“I’ve known many guys through my wrestling career in college, in fighting, they don’t like it,” he said. “They don’t like the process. They don’t like to fight. They just do it because – they don’t even know why they do it. Anthony was probably one of the guys who was just naturally good, and I don’t know his upbringing, but maybe he wanted to make money and it seems like the right path to take. But he never really enjoyed it.”

Sanchez relishes getting in the cage to scrap, and so he’s happy to conclude the process by testing his skills against Smith. It’s finding a balance between anxiety and relaxation that’s the ongoing challenge.

“You don’t want to be too relaxed, to where you don’t care,” he said. “You need a little anxiety. But you definitely don’t want too much anxiety.”

For more on UFC on FOX 24, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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