UFC Ultimate Fighter 1 champion Diego Sanchez has spent the last fourteen-plus years competing in the UFC, but that time may be coming to an end.
Dave Leduc, who competes in the World Lethwei Championship (WLC), recently stated that Sanchez is no longer in the UFC and would like to fight for the WLC.
?I got a message from Diego Sanchez the other day,? Leduc said on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show (via Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com). ?He said, ?Dave, I?m not in the UFC anymore?. Whoops, maybe I shouldn?t have [said] that. [Sanchez] said, I?m out of my contract, do you want to get me a Lethwei fight in WLC??
However, while Leduc says that Sanchez is no longer with the UFC, a post appeared on Sanchez?s Instagram page saying that he wants to fight former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis in January of 2020:
Sanchez, during a recent appearance on The Luke Thomas Show, confirms that his contract has ended and is a free agent.
?Listen, ?done with the UFC? never ever was spoken out of the words of my mouth,? Sanchez said (via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). ?But, as far as being done with my contract, and I assume that is the misinterpretation that Dave was speaking about, my contract was at an end, and it is at an end, and I am a free agent.?
There has been no official statement yet from either the UFC about the fighter?s status with the promotion.