What happened to Diego? Where is the 2006 version!

[elzar]

Mma has evolved there really isn't many careless brawlers like Diego everyone is tactical and Diego isn't fighters stay on the outside and pick him apart it's sad because he had such potential

yeah the sport has changed. and to consider the fighters mentioned in the op: where are riggs and karo now? they started a long time ago and are irrelevant now 1) skill; 2) mileage.

diego has a lot of mileage and his skill peaked a couple years ago. he's still a terrific ground guy with average wrestling and average striking. hard to put the one terrific skill to work without the other two.

and everyone else has a game plan. diego's plan is to try harder and will himself to victory. sometimes it works, but it's not the smartest gameplan.

 

[Plissken]

He fell in love with hurting opponents with strikes. He's got a bit of Ellenberger syndrome (enamored with his power) mixed with Wang (enamored with winging punches while his best weapon is his ground game) and Garcia (enamored with walking forward and slinging punches without care just or the thrill of it) syndrome. The last time he significantly used his ground game was against Paulo Thiago, and he's forgetting that he nearly finished Ellenberger on the ground and took Gilbert's back in his four previous fights.

I'm not on the page of most posters on MMA forums who cry "worst decision" ever after every close fight or close enough fight, but I thought (aside from some nice kicks) Diego didn't perform as well as he should have and Ross did enough where I thought the judges would have given it to him.

 

[T Rowles]

Diego has a ton of fight miles on him, has a low fight IQ, and hasn't evolved his game.

He's also struggled with substance abuse. That kind of thing can steal your best years away.

 

[YesYesYes88]

Seriously...Of all people you eek out a SD against Ross Pearson? Pearson, who got KTFO by Melvin but won on technicality, and got absolutely handled by a featherweight.

Pretty disappointed in Diego, I remember thinking back in 2006 when he knocked Karo's fake tooth out and KOing Riggs, that he was going to be the future WW champion.

EXACTLY!!! I have been religiously following Diego's career back when he was on TUF 1. Followed him like crazy. I made threads EXACTLY like this a few years ago!

Diego has definitely regressed. This Diego is just a shocking shell of his former self. I clearly remember that 19-0 and 6-0 Diego in the UFC. The undefeated, hungry, motivated fighter that was touted as the uncrowned champ.

It is just a memory now. So upsetting to see what happened to Diego!

 

[YesYesYes88]

diego was a monster grappler. I really think when he was raw coming out of TUF (he still had like 15 fights, undefeated), he was at a crossroads. he was a beast grappler (still is); he was a guy who would take someone down and just kick his ass from the top and work for subs.

but he ran into two fighters whom he couldn't bully around (fitch and kos), and he probably started focusing more on his standup. also, let's face it.... fighters hit speed-bumps every day against training partners. he started gearing himself more toward striking (also, i'm sure the riggs ko didn't help).

from there, he retreated and has been reduced to more of a brawler. it's almost sad, because I think if he had focused more on wrestling, he could've been more of a threat these days. fighters evolve and devolve; it happens. I think diego went in a direction that did not serve him well. sure, his versatility has helped him, but his one distinct technical advantage (bjj) can never be utilized because the wrestling just isn't there. I think Kenny florian would've beaten diego any time in the last 5 years.

like I said, shit happens. maybe his wrestling wouldn't have mattered much anyway because there are too many better athletes who can stuff his takedowns. that could be true. perhaps, the sport was going to evolve and pass him by anyway. I just don't like how his heart, chin, and tenacity are relied upon instead of being used as something to fall back on. it's a fine line, and I can only guess. I mean, afterall, I think that 2006 riggs was a fighter whom he couldn't bully with his wrestling and his improving striking came through and stole that fight.

Great post. Agree with you. Good job on remembering the old Diego like you did sir

 

[D.R.H.]

Diego never recovered from his hiatus to California. He regressed something fierce then and seemingly forgot how to grapple or scramble and became convinced he's an awesome boxer.

 

[Scuba]

what happened to Diego's headkicks

 

[YesYesYes88]

"I remember thinking back in 2006 when he knocked Karo's fake tooth out and KOing Riggs, that he was going to be the future WW champion."

Future WW champ??? I never thought that as I knew GSP, BJ and some others would tear him apart even when he was a top fighter. Not sure what you were smoking to think he was future champ after beating Riggs.

He definitely was a potential future WW champ. I clearly remember the MMA world was abuzz when Diego beat Karo Parisyan and especially Riggs the way he did. Yeh now, it may seem ridiculous that he would have beat BJ and GSP, but that Diego was a damn stud and was touted as the uncrowned champ for a reason. He was sooo motivated, devoted, talented and champ potential back then

 

[ufcfan4]

His takedowns are nowhere good enough to put anybody who has a good base down and his striking is not as fluid, fast, accurate as many other fighters (Ross included). It's a shame when guys like Diego have there by far best skillset (top game bjj, scrambles and ground and pound for him) neutralized and therefore have to fight in a way that doesn't play to their strengths.

Now Diego is sort of batshit crazy as a fighter and thrives on heart and enthusiasm so he will try to make a case for himself by pressing forward, throwing wildly and eating shots with his epic chin. In some cases it works- ie beating Kamp and Ross when he shouldn't have- but it's still sort of sad to watch.

Sanchez, I feel, is the type of dude who really should be working wrestling constantly. Maybe his shot isn't explosive enough but that dynamism isn't the only thing to being able to put someone on the mat. For one thing, doing so would add years to his career. If he keeps fighting like he did against Jury, Gil and Pearson, he's not long for this sport. Amping up the grappling will spare him some battle damage.

Plus if his wrestling improved, he would be able to utilize his aforementioned best asset.

 

[Plissken]

His takedowns are nowhere good enough to put anybody who has a good base down and his striking is not as fluid, fast, accurate as many other fighters (Ross included). It's a shame when guys like Diego have there by far best skillset (top game bjj, scrambles and ground and pound for him) neutralized and therefore have to fight in a way that doesn't play to their strengths.

To be fair, while his takedown percentage is poor he has taken down Fitch, Melendez, Penn (never secured position though), Ellenberger, Kampmann, Karo, Diaz, and Stevenson. Diego just has bad timing and relies too much on trying to get a td off the cage, he' a scrambler like Faber.

 

[wellz6]

I remember back in 2006 my dream fight was Sanchez vs. Hughes for the WW title. That would have been such a good fight.

 

[Bigj383]

I think Diego's problem is that he's changed too much. He's actually a really, really good grappler with some nasty GnP, but these days all he wants to do is brawl. He put on grappling clinics early in his career (Florian, Gassaway, Diaz, Karo). Then he got beat when Koscheck kept it standing and chipped away to a points win. So Diego developed better striking and utilized it when needed or when it gave him an advantage (like in the Stevenson fight).

Somewhere along the way, he just completely abandoned his grappling as well as any technical skills he acquired in his standup game. He's changed as a fighter by abandoning his technique, and that's his problem.

Diego has good tenacious GnP. But his wrestling isn't that good. Really Diego started getting his TDs stuffed over and over. His UFC TD % is only 19%. Back in the day Kenny, Gassaway, and Diaz were not hard to take down. When Diego fought Alessio he kept getting his TDs stuffed over and over. In the Karo fight Parisyan took Diego down 9 times vs 3. I really don't know if Diego is in good ebough shape to try for TDs without just geeting shrugged off.