Diego Sanchez isn’t mad at the UFC for the way things ended but doesn’t like how they treat fighters.
Sanchez was supposed to face Donald Cerrone last May in a potential retirement fight, but the promotion decided to cut him due to his ties with Joshua Fabia. After that, Sanchez explored his options and signed with Eagle FC where he will face Kevin Lee on Friday night.
Although he’s in a new promotion, Sanchez says he isn’t mad with the UFC but also can’t see himself fighting for them again. He also is glad he is in Eagle FC which he says values fighters, unlike the his former employer.
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“There’s no reason to hold a grudge,” Sanchez said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “A grudge will only kill you, a grudge will only hurt you, a grudge will only put you in the chains in the shackles of hatred and that isn’t Diego Sanchez’s positive energy. I have no resentment over what has happened and transpired at the end of my career in the UFC. With that being said, I do think there are a lot of things that can be improved in the UFC that they aren’t putting effort into improving.
“It’s just a business, and it’s just about money. Fighting is a different sport as combat is where people get injured and bleed and sacrifice their bodies for the entertainment of the fans and the building of the company,” Sanchez continued. “With that being said, this ain’t some normal business, you need to give some care and some love… I just let it go and I’m happy and grateful to be in a new organization that values me and recognizes me for the legend that I am even if it is a pay cut, it’s about the values.”
The talk off fighter pay, or a lack there of, has been a major topic over the past year. Reports have surfaced that the UFC is paying less than 20 percent of it’s revenue to fighters.
For Diego Sanchez, those figures don’t come as a surprise as he says the UFC and the people running it are greedy. He also thinks the promotion would rather go under then pay fighters 50% of the revenue like the other pro sports.
“I don’t see it changing, I see it going under before it changes, I see something newer and better that takes it out or it goes bankrupt. In the end, UFC they have done a great job of expanding the sport but it’s a greedy organization,” Sanchez said. “How many billions do you have to get before you start paying the fighters more than 10 percent of the revenue? You have the NFL and the NBA are getting paid 50, other sports are getting paid 60%, UFC isn’t paying fighters. We are the fighters that get f****d up and they just throw you out like old trash.”
Do you agree with Diego Sanchez?