Midnight Mania! Sanchez Leaks ‘Smoking Gun’ UFC Phone Call

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Somehow, it feels like the Diego Sanchez/Joshua Fabia drama vs. UFC is just getting started. Even with Sanchez fully released from the promotion and free to do as he’d please, “The Nightmare” still has a bone to pick with the world’s leading MMA promotion. Or perhaps it’s solely Fabia, who operates as Sanchez’s primary coach and manager, pushing the conflict.

Either way, Sanchez took to Instagram to leak a phone call with UFC’s Chief Legal Officer, Hunter Campbell. “. “Smoking Gun conversation with UFC Lawyer,” Sanchez wrote in the caption. “Listen to it for yourself… None of this is normal fans, friends, family, fighters and casuals ”

To summarize the seven-minute video, Campbell expressed concern over Fabia’s request for Sanchez’s detailed medical history with the promotion, as it made him question whether or not Sanchez was healthy and fit to compete.

“The direct quote I received was, you stated that the quote ‘long-term effects of Diego being an MMA fighter’ were your basis for requesting it,” Campbell said (via MMAJunkie) “So I went through this with (former UFC fighter) Mark Hunt, and here’s the reality: If you’re concerned or (Sanchez is) concerned that he’s having negative effects, then we’re not going to fight him and I’m going to pull the fight right now and we’re going to call it a day and we’ll release him and he can go do something else with his life, because I’m not putting anybody in that cage that doesn’t feel 100 percent or thinks they’re suffering from any medical issues.”

Fabia argued that he was merely interested in helping Sanchez recover from a career’s worth of injuries and hoped to access the related scans and imaging. Campbell requested Sanchez clear a physical, which he did, but by that point, it was too late. Sanchez was asked to give a written statement about his health, but when it proved insufficient, the bout vs. Donald Cerrone was officially canceled.

Insomnia

Well, here’s a silver lining to the Sanchez drama (he probably wasn’t going to get that win bonus).

Jon Jones making his bout vs. Francis Ngannou a USA vs. Africa thing is weird to me, and it feels likely to only get uglier.

Credit to “Bones” for this sprint though:

Here’s some real “weird and wild” in martial arts:

It’s pretty cool that fighters are investing in their promotion. Any readers buy into the Endeavor IPO?

This is an amazing throwback.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

“The Red King” returned in dominant fashion last night. Does he take the PFL million?

Rosas did a nice job here of spinning beneath his opponent, and I believe Duran verbally tapped? It’s hard to tell.

Blocking kicks correctly is actually pretty hard, but the results can be dramatic for either side.

Random Land

Okay, so this fish has an entire living eel in its stomach. What now?

Midnight Music: Well, I added three more pieces to my leg of music-inspired tattoos today, so it’s only right that I link those songs.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.