While healing from recent surgery, Diego Sanchez had an idea.
Unable to lift weights due to shoulder surgery and slowly trimming down because of it, the current welterweight today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (
MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com) he's seriously considering a return to the lightweight division.
And he even has a few potential matchups in mind.
"I'm probably going to be going down to 155 for the next fight," he said. "And there are some possible opponents I'm looking at."
Sanchez has been on the mend since his UFC on FUEL TV 1 loss to Jake Ellenberger in February. After two years of dealing with a torn labrum, he decided to go under the knife and is now on the mend following successful surgery.
The time off has given him plenty of time to think about his immediate future.
"We'll see where I end up, but I'm still kind of a lighter welterweight," he said. "I really try to lift weights, but the shoulder injury sort of set me back. As I heal up, my body's going to get a little smaller, so I might just go down to 155."
Prior to the Ellenberger loss, Sanchez picked up welterweight wins over Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann. All three bouts won "Fight of the Night" bonuses, and the past two came in main-event fights.
Sanchez has had recent success at welterweight and could continue getting big fights. Yet his three-fight lightweight run ended in a lopsided TKO loss to then-champ B.J. Penn.
So why consider a move back there?
"The last time I was at 155, I was just a wreck," he said. "Mentally, I was still young and partying a lot, and I was still smoking weed. I was just a wild child. Now that I'm grounded and have my life together and am married, I'm just focused. So maybe 155 might be a better weight for me.
"Like (UFC president) Dana White said, maybe I can jump from either weight class as long as I do it professionally. And I will. If I have to go down to 155, it's only going to make me more strict with health and nutrition and diet. That's my hardest part (of training). But at 155, there's no messing around. You've got to do it right."
In the talent-rich lightweight and welterweight divisions, Sanchez knows he can get a good fight at either weight. But at 155 pounds, he sees one matchup he likes more than others: former WEC champ Anthony Pettis, who recently was skipped over for a title shot so the organization could book champ Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar in a rematch.
Like Sanchez, Pettis recently underwent shoulder surgery.
"We'll be recovering about the same time," Sanchez said. "I think he got the same surgery as me, so it'd be an event playing field. I told Dana I really liked that fight.
"I want to fight a guy who's a fan favorite and who has a lot of fans and is a big draw. It'd make us both better, the sport better. Plus, the guy has a win over the champ, so that'd bump me up right to the top (of the division)."
If not Pettis, Sanchez also likes the idea of fighting Nate Diaz. He met the cantankerous fighter's older brother way back in 2005 at The Ultimate Fighter Finale 2, where Sanchez won a unanimous decision. Nick Diaz has made no secret of his disdain over the decision, so little brother Nate could look to avenge it.
Sanchez, though, isn't worried so much about the bad blood as the matchup itself.
"Them Diaz brothers are just scrappers," he said. "It'd be a 'Fight of the Night.' You're going to get the ground game, standup. You're going to get it all. You're going to get a real fight with a Diaz."
Some point to that Penn loss a reason Sanchez shouldn't go back to lightweight. After all, Penn has suffered through tough times recently (and may be retired for all we know). Additionally, since the Sanchez win, Penn has won just one out of five fights.
Sanchez, though, said he got a vintage Penn in their December 2009 fight, which was stopped in the fifth round as Sanchez's face gushed blood.
"I fought the best B.J. Penn ever that night," he said. "That was the best B.J. Penn ever. Anyone who knows MMA knows that. That was the legend. That was the epitome of the legend of B.J. Penn.
"I went in there and got caught early in the fight, and I never recovered. He beat me down in that first round. I watch it now, and I'm like, 'How did I survive that?'"
Of course, Sanchez isn't considering a return to lightweight simply because Penn is now out of the picture. He's no more likely to get a title at 155 pounds than he is at 170 pounds. He just thinks he's better suited for lightweight, especially now that he has his personal life and training in order.
But yeah, priority No. 1 is a title.
"No doubt about it, it's a title shot," he said. "That's what you want. You want to be the champion. I'm 30 years old. I'm coming into my peak. More than anything, mentally and spiritually, I ain't that foolish young kid anymore.
"I'm turning a corner with my striking, and I really feel at my best. On the right night and the right opponent, I could put the belt around my waist. That's my dream."
: would love to see Gil/Sanchez as well. Dana has said like 10 times over the last year he was going to find competition for Melendez, so far he hasn't kept his word on it.