Diego Sanchez feels like a new fighter entering bout with Martin Kampmann

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.

Diego Sanchez awoke and ended “The Nightmare.”

Sanchez, the UFC veteran who won the first season of 'The Ultimate Fighter', had become known by his nickname over his near decade long stint as a professional fighter. He’s now officially announced he wants to get rid of it.

“I let “The Nightmare” go,” Sanchez said. “To me, I feel a negative in it. I don’t like it. It’s kind of evil. I don’t want to represent that. I want to represent positivity and I want to represent the good.”

That’s not the only thing Sanchez has changed. Over the last six months, the 29-year old Sanchez says he has refocused himself and entered a new phase of his career.

Sanchez (27-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) hopes his approach pays dividends when he meets Martin Kampmann (17-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in the Main Event of Thursday’s UFC on Versus 3 card at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

“In my mind, I feel like I have already earned the ‘W’,” Sanchez said. “I’ve worked so hard and I’ve done extra things.”

In addition to his training regimen, Sanchez has spent the last few months working with a high school wrestling team in his native Albuquerque, N.M. He either lifts more weights or goes running in the 8,000-feet mountains when his day at the gym is over.

That’s in stark contrast to less than a year ago when he faced John Hathaway at UFC 114 in his return to the welterweight division. Sanchez, who came into the bout as nearly a 3-to-1 favorite but lost via unanimous decision, said he went out drinking every night after training for the Hathaway fight and even smoked marijuana.

Sanchez’s renewed dedication has Kampmann’s attention.

“Diego seems like a motivated person,” Kampmann said. “Those people are hard to fight. He always brings it and I admire his tenacity in the cage, so I’m definitely expecting a tough fight. That’s what I want.”

Kampmann is coming off a tough fight against Jake Shields at UFC 121 last October. Shields scored a split decision victory against Kampmann and received a title fight against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129 as a reward.

So, it means something when Kampmann hints that Sanchez is an even tougher matchup for him.

“I think Diego is definitely better cardio than Jake Shields,” Kampmann said. “I think he’s more explosive than he is and is more tenacious.”

It would have been surprising to hear someone speak so highly of Sanchez just a few months ago. The Hathaway defeat was his second straight after losing a unanimous decision lightweight title fight against B.J. Penn at UFC 107 in December 2009.

Sanchez said the Penn loss precipitated one of the darkest periods of his life. He had never been thoroughly dominated in the octagon like that before. The disappointment of his performance coincided with personal problems.

“I blew through all my money and made some very bad decisions,” Sanchez said. “I had this scam artist scam me real bad and was embezzled over $175,000. I hit rock bottom. I came back home. I needed my family love and I was humbled 100 percent.”

Sanchez moved back to Albuquerque from San Diego after the loss to Hathaway. For the first time in more than five years, he started training at Greg Jackson’s gym.

He could hardly recognize the place as it had turned into the top MMA training site in the country while he was gone. UFC standouts like Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones are among the long roster of fighters who currently work with Jackson — quite a change from the days when Sanchez was one of the only regulars.

“I was at Jackson’s before we had an MMA team,” Sanchez said. “We were just a grappling team. But when I walked in, it was the most amazing feeling because I felt like I was home again. We’re talking about a gym that kept me out of the streets as a young child. This is somewhere I went twice a day when I was 19 years old.”

Sanchez trained with Jackson for about a month leading into his UFC 121 fight against Paulo Thiago. Sanchez went on to win a unanimous decision and Fight of the Night honors.

After more time to settle into his Albuquerque routine, Sanchez expects a more complete performance against Kampmann. He said his worst days were behind him.

“I was my own nightmare,” Sanchez said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.