Faith; through the eyes of the "Nightmare"

by pennyjomma on May 27, 2009 12:35 PM EDT

Exclusive interview with Diego Sanchez

Written by Penny Buffington

Ever wonder why an athlete who is about to fight in a mixed martial arts event would be giving glory to God? UFC fighter Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez gives a look into what his faith means to him and why he always gives the glory to God. Diego explains; to him faith is a matter of religion as well as a spiritual thing. "I consider myself a believer. I believe in Jesus Christ and that he died on the cross for our sins that is what my fundamental belief is. Religion is spiritual. I do go to Church and I do read the Bible. I do study because that is the word of God and you should. But of course it is a spiritual thing."

The 27 year old UFC mixed martial arts fighters parents brought him up to "believe" in God and his son Jesus Christ, lovingly teaching him the ways of the Bible. "It is what I was born into. Mom had a big influence on teaching me the right way. My parents were Catholics growing up and then they converted to Christians whenever they were pregnant with me."

Even though "Nightmares" parents wanted him to believe, it really is a choice that had to be made by Diego himself. "You know many things have happened in my life. The trials the tribulations, everybody has their stories, where they went wrong and what they did wrong. As for me, I am the type of person I want to find out on my own. And time and time again God has always let me know from what my Mom and Dad was telling me from the beginning was always the truth. But you know being a kid and being kind of stubborn you want to find out the truth for yourself. Usually in most cases you need to learn the hard way. And I did!"

"Getting into my older age I am starting to finally find wisdom and make better decisions and smarter choices." Diego admits to making mistakes, "From my turning my back on the laws of God; dancing with the devil and temptation and sin. That wasn’t going to do anything; but digging myself into a hole, that I would eventually have to pull myself out of. Lucky for us we have a very forgiving God. That is why he gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins."

As for Church Diego says, " I go to The Rock in San Diego and when I am in different places I go to different churches."

Diego believes in making time to dedicate thoughts and prayers to God. "I do tai chi and I do Qigong energy meditation and I always incorporate my scripture into everything that I do. Whether it be running on the treadmill. Whether it be working out. I’m always constantly reciting scriptures in my mind and communicating with God. Another thing that I recently started to do was writing down all my prayers in a notepad. I’ve had huge success with that by writing everything down."

Diego starts his day with a text message from his boxing coach. "My boxing coach sends me Bible verses. He text messages me bible verses every morning. I read those and I start my day out like that. I try to get a little wisdom from what he sends me. I’m also looking into joining a Bible study fellowship. Ali does it, so I want to start doing that with her." Diego’s girlfriend is Ali Sonoma, a former UFC octagon ring girl.

Being a Christian isn’t all that complicated to Diego, "Christian is basically, following the 10 commandments, that is basically what it comes down to."

Before and after every fight Diego Sanchez can be heard giving all the glory to God. He explains, "I’m giving the glory to him. I am thankful for everything. I give him the victory. I do not consider the victory as mine. It is his. I envision being one of his warriors and giving him the glory, "HIM". Saying look, this win wasn’t really me winning, it was him winning, through me, by me giving and putting it out there so people can say, look, this guy is giving God credit for his victory."

The finale thoughts Diego shared with me were, "No matter how down and out you are all things are possible through Jesus Christ. I’m a true witness to that. I have a great life. It’s all because of him. I give him the glory. I give him the credit." Next time you hear a fighter mentioning God remember that faith is a beautiful thing. Any time someone wants to give God a shout out, it’s a good thing!

Diego praying in the UFC octagon before an event, picture taken and provided by Kasey Anne Leech:

Audio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADRuY7yqtlc

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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As a Christian

the last person I want to take my theological advice or perspective from is Diego Sanchez.

“Diego, my son, have you been to confession recently?”
“YES! YES! YES! YES father”

from the forest itself comes the handle for the axe

by troy145 on May 27, 2009 6:39 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

As a non-Christian, that’s friggin hilarious, man.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on May 27, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions

"Christian is basically, following the 10 commandments, that is basically what it comes down to."

Always thought it was more Golden Rule/Beatitudes/Sermon on the Mount myself, but I’m a proud and practicing atheist.

Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion

by The Kittitas Kid on May 27, 2009 7:34 PM EDT reply actions

Considering it’s a belief system that encompasses literally DOZENS of religions, it’s safe to say there’s no one definition of what it means to be Christian. That, after all, was the point of the Reformation.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on May 27, 2009 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions

The core of Christianity are the words of Jesus, so anything he says is above reproach (by Christians, anyway) – pretty much every branch of Christianity agrees with that. Jesus does say following the 10C are critically important, so they’re up there with the Sermon on the Mount, et al. Everything else is extra bits to fully flesh out the religion.

Of course, I wouldn’t take my religious advice from a guy who pounds the pulp out of others. See:

My parents were Catholics growing up and then they converted to Christians

/Facepalm

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by Scott C. Broussard on May 28, 2009 2:56 AM EDT up reply actions

The core of Christianity are the words of Jesus, so anything he says is above reproach (by Christians, anyway)

Absolutely true, but how different groups have interpreted those statements is a different kettle of fish.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on May 28, 2009 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions

True, you’re right about that – though how something as simple as “Turn the other cheek” is misinterpreted is beyond me. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s a pretty easy statement to get. Blessed are the peacemakers = Crusades? NB: I’m not bashing religion here, just stupid people. They’re always an acceptable target, yes?

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by Scott C. Broussard on May 28, 2009 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions

The day that stupid people stop being an acceptable target, I’m moving to Baffin Island.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on May 28, 2009 10:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Even as a non- religious guy...

I can get on board with some of the things in the 10 commandments- i’m all for not murdering, stealing, lying, or trespassing, as well as respecting your parents, and not cheating on your spouse.

Hey, that’s half of them, right?

Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.

'09 is the year of the FW's.

by ElliotMatheny on May 28, 2009 2:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Well originally the commandments were taken from the Egyptian “Book of the Dead”. The Egyptians made a set of rules almost exactly like the 10C as a tool of social order because they had a huge peasant class with not much in terms of anything to police them. Instead, the Book of the Dead outlined "the underworld’’ and how one’s actions on Earth affected their place in that world after they die. Its a similar concept to heaven and hell, but both in one place

Looking at it that way its easy to see why they are so agreeable. They are mostly just basic rules that keep society running. If you don’t get down with their content in modern day America, you end up in jail or living in the woods by yourself

by Flyghtt on May 28, 2009 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions