Diego Sanchez Says He’s Going to Break Marcin Held at UFC Fight Night 98

Diego Sanchez spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Marcin Held at UFC Fight Night 98. Some highlights are below:

On knowing who he is as a fighter: “I’ve been fighting for a long time and I’ve been fighting the highest level strikers and mixed martial artists in the UFC for a long time and now I get to fight a grappler. It’s an exciting matchup. I have to remember from experience who I am. I’m Diego Sanchez, I’m ‘The Nightmare.’ You go forward, you fight, you’re aggressive. You’re the predator and he’s the prey.”

On his strategy for the bout: “I have to come forward and I have to put pressure. That’s how Diego Sanchez fights. When I was going forward with Joe Lauzon, I landed 15 of my first 17 strikes. I was landing everything crisp and precise. I have to stalk this man down. I’m ready for his takedowns and I’m ready for whatever he’s willing to do. Roll for ankle locks – my legs will be shaved and silky smooth. I put an Instagram of me with a pedicure tool getting my heels all silky smooth. I’m ready for whatever he brings, but the thing is this: Is he going to be ready for what I bring. Because I’m going to bring fire. It’s going to be that Latin heat and I’m going for the KO. I’m going for the KO and I’m going for his head. In my mindset, going into this fight it is calm, it is confident and it is courageous.”

On going to the ground: “I’m not afraid to take this guy down. I will take this guy down when I want to, when the time is right. I’ll take him down and I will be ‘The Nightmare.’ He wants to take (my legs). My mindset is: I have kids, I have a family and I have a career. He wants to break my leg. I look at it like this: He wants to break my leg, so I have to break his face before he breaks my leg. That’s how I look at it. I’m going to break his face, I’m going to break his body, I’m going to break his leg and I’m going to break his spirit. That’s what Diego Sanchez, ‘The Nightmare,’ plans to do on Saturday night.”