On Friday afternoon, UFC superstar Conor McGregor said that for his next competition, he will be boxing Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East. “Notorious,” who retired in June, also accepted a fight challenge from Ultimate Fighter season one veteran Diego Sanchez. Sanchez has long called for a fight with the Irishman and during a recent interview, “Nightmare” said that he wanted to fight McGregor in his final fight.
Sanchez is scheduled to compete on the preliminary card of UFC 253 this weekend against Jake Matthews.
Hearing of Sanchez’s call-out, McGregor tweeted that he was interested in fighting Sanchez and that in fact, he told UFC president Dana White months ago that he wanted to fight Nightmare.
Notorious tweeted, “To Diego Sanchez… I seen your recent comments about your final bout and I am in! After you fought [Michel] Pereira, I had requested for myself and you to compete in Dublin. This was back in February when I was working on opposition for my season, pre covid. Good luck this weekend!”
McGregor also shared screenshots of his conversation with White about Nightmare. See below:
To Diego Sanchez…
I seen your recent comments about your final bout and I am in!
After you fought Pereira, I had requested for myself and you to compete in Dublin. This was back in February when I was working on opposition for my season, pre covid.
Good luck this weekend!
In response to McGregor’s tweet, Sanchez took to Twitter later on Friday, writing: “It’s in the ether destiny was ours long ago in 2012 a double manifestation of two warriors connected to the universe! I will earn this with my excellence sat!”
Nightmare then tweeted, “You can talk s*** now after Saturday’s healing you will be begging for [this] fight.”
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Sanchez Is Not Concerned About Winning a UFC Championship
At 38 years old, Sanchez has been in the UFC since 2005 and has fought at middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and featherweight. During his tenure, he has earned one title shot. He fought then-lightweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 107 in December 2009 but lost the bout by fifth-round doctor’s stoppage.
Nightmare has a professional MMA record of 30-12 and a UFC record of 19-12. He is 3-1 in his last four bouts and is coming off a disqualification win over Michel Pereira in February. Although the UFC veteran hasn’t obtained gold in the promotion, he has moved on from that dream. After McGregor accepted his callout on Friday, Sanchez wrote on Instagram:
I have @jakematthewsufc first and am 1000% ready to master the task! When I speak of true universal connection and #IAMTHISNOW I can assure you @espn you will have something special as I do what I have to do to get my healing 9/26/2020 @thenotoriousmma I will earn this opportunity with my excellence that is displayed at #ufc253 I will off the heads of as many as needed to get to you! F*** the belt we are destiny mark my words it’s in the ether #IAMTHISNOW
Sanchez Is ‘Not Looking Past Jake Matthews’ But Is ‘Looking for Some Legend Fights’
Nightmare is on the tail end of his career, and he wants to fight four more times before hanging up his gloves. Sanchez said via Essentially Sports, “My goals in these last four fights in the UFC is to finish strong, to finish healthy…I shoot for the moon man, I shoot for the moon in everything I do. I’m looking for legend fights… I’m not looking past Jake Matthews, but I’m looking for some legend fights.”
Sanchez brought up two specific names when speaking about the “legend fights,” Nick Diaz and McGregor. He said, “Nick Diaz is coming back. There’s some other names, Nate Diaz, there’s a lot of big fights that would be appealing for the fans. I said I shoot for the moon, Conor McGregor is the number four fight. I envision myself dominating these next three fights and finishing my career with a fight with Conor McGregor. That’s my dream, that’s my vision. As I build my legacy and his does what his does, I’ll be waiting if he wants to do it at the end of the road.”
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UFC Star on Fighting Conor McGregor: ‘You Will Be Begging’