(This story first appeared in Friday’s USA TODAY .) DALLAS – For the better part of two hours, mixed martial arts fans at the pre-UFC 171 open-workout session clapped politely, cheered when appropriate and happily accepted both pictures and autographs when the fighters offered. Then in walked Diego Sanchez . Not just any Diego Sanchez, mind you, but a Mohawked version of the man sometimes known as “The Nightmare” and other times as “The Dream.” It was hard to tell if the fighter took his cue from the crowd or instead was directing his own symphony when almost instantaneously both Sanchez and the mass erupted in his signature yell: “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Nothing about Sanchez is “normal.” How could it be? Normal isn’t what it takes to earn four Fight of the Night bonuses in your past five Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances. Normal isn’t what brings crowds to their feet, as Sanchez did in his October fight with Gilbert Melendez, even in a losing effort, simply because they know one absolute truth: This man will not quit moving forward until the final bell
See the original post:
Thankfully, there’s nothing normal about Diego Sanchez – MMA Junkie