Waking Nightmare

Spotted K-1 standout (and Toronto BJJ Muay Thai coach) Andre “Dida” Amado and his brother, Mauricio Veio (TBJJ’s fulltime striking instructor), among Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez’s entourage during tonight’s Ultimate Fighter Finale. Also there were jiu-jitsu legends Saulo and Xande Ribeiro. Sanchez just got his brown belt under Saulo (after giving up his Greg Jackson-awarded black belt to start over as a white belt under the Ribeiros).

But it was his striking that stood out in the fight with Clay Guida, especially that opening round that saw Sanchez go ape-shit on Guida, whom  Joe Rogan called a wild chimpanzee. Within seconds the two went at each other with a barrage of punches, kicks and knees. Sanchez landed the heavier blows driving Guida back and pounding him with what looked like 30 or 40 unanswered strikes. Somehow, Guida survived the onslaught and gave back as good as he got for the full three rounds.

Sanchez won a split decision but it was Guida who had the fans chanting his name during the fight and Guida who was still bouncing like Tigger during the entire post-fight interview. Guida can take a hell of a lot of punishment and he’s got  gas tank that could fuel a jumbo jet. He keeps fighting like that Guida will always have a job in the UFC no matter how often he loses.