Diego Sanchez on UFC Undisputed: 'It's a Visualization Tool for Me'

[WrestlingSmarks News]

Diego Sanchez is definitely one of the more unique UFC fighters out there. Whether it's completely wrapping himself up in saran wrap on The Ultimate Fighter, or his YES! chants on the way to the cage (and who could forget the YES cartwheel?), you can usually expect the unexpected with Diego. Today's sample of that comes from an interview with ESPN where he talks about why he plays the UFC video game, UFC Undisputed:

"When the first UFC game came out ("UFC Undisputed"), I never even dreamed being in such a realistic game," he says. "The game is so realistic looking that I do my late night training by getting on my PlayStation 3 and fighting my opponent 20 times in the game. That way I'm able to see myself knocking him out over and over again. It's a visualization tool for me where you're seeing it, you're feeling it and you can already have that knockout in your mind. As long as you go in and do the work and train, when you get in and fight, you've already seen what can happen, so it's more realistic that it will happen."

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The reporter asks the obvious and amusing question next - what if he loses?

"I usually win at least 17 out of 20," Sanchez laughs. "I win most of them, but sometimes I get my butt kicked because I'm tired, so I just turn it off. That's the great thing about the game. If I'm losing, there's always the power switch and I can start over and I never feel any pain."

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Sanchez can put his visualization tool to the test in the cage when he faces UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes at UFC 135 in September.