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"I Can't See I Can't Continue!" (Diego Sanchez Training with Josh Fabian)
A veteran fighter like Sanchez, who has been in the UFC since 2005 and has fought professionally since 2002, knows full well that when he tells a referee he can’t see, the fight will be stopped.
. . .
So as Sanchez was being attended to by the doctor, in his mind the fight was even. He knew he was probably losing the third, so the worst he would have gotten under that scenario if he finished the fight would have been a draw.
. . .
And I’d say to adapt that to MMA in modern times, Sanchez has never been a quitter. To give up in a fight before the final bell goes against every instinct in his body.
When Anthony Smith was kneed in the head by Jon Jones in their light heavyweight title fight on March 2, 2019, there were those in Smith’s corner desperately advising him to say he couldn’t continue. That would have given Smith not only the win bonus, but also the title.
Smith, though, refused, and said he couldn’t live with himself if he behaved that way. He took the time allotted and then continued to fight. Two points were deducted from Jones for the illegal knee, but he still won a unanimous decision over Smith.
Knowing Sanchez as we have over the years, why would we believe he’d behave any differently than Smith did? Smith doesn’t believe Sanchez knowingly quit and took the money.
“I gave Diego a pass on this because he’s never cracked before,” Smith said. “He’s never looked for a way out before. If anything, Diego is one of the guys who runs into the storm. If Diego says that he’s hurt, then I believe he was hurt. ...
“I got a lot of tweets and people were looking for me to roast Diego, but I didn’t because that’s not who this guy has been. He hasn’t acted that way before. Diego Sanchez has never given me a reason to think he’s a quitter, ever.”
Many of us would have made that choice and quit to take the money in a similar situation in our own jobs. Sanchez, though, is wired differently. That others would suggest he quit to take the money is the surest sign they have no idea of what is inside of this man and the strange energy that has made him one of the most beloved figures in the history of the sport.
Sanchez is not a quitter. Period. End of story.
https://sports.yahoo.com/no-diego-s...legal-knee-from-michel-pereira-201223522.html
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