Diego Sanchez fires back at people who think he has CTE and brain damage: “I will get out of this sport if I ever have one underlying factor of CTE”

Diego Sanchez is tired of people saying he has brain damage and CTE.

Sanchez has been fighting professionally since 2002 and has fought a total of 44 times. Although all those matches have been in MMA, he will be making his BKFC debut at KnuckleMania 3 on February 17 against a former boxing world champion, Austin Trout.

However, when the fight was announced, many were critical of the matchup and the fact Diego Sanchez was still fighting. Many have said Sanchez has CTE and brain damage, which the UFC veteran says is not true at all and wants to put that to an end.

“Let me attack some of the haters out there who have gone with the propaganda and the agenda against me,” Sanchez said to BJPENN.com. “First of all, I did not leave the UFC getting knocked out like Chuck Liddell or Frankie Edgar, I wasn’t face down on the canvas. In my career I have a couple of knockouts, Matt Brown hit me behind the ear with an elbow that put me out, Iaquinta hit me with a straight right that I didn’t see, and as far as that, I had the BJ Penn where there was a lot for trauma. I did have some fights but I gave myself time to heal. I do hot yoga every day, I’m with the mind, the body, and the spirit, I’m cleansing myself from the inside out.

“For people to come with all this hate that I have CTE and brain damage, this is all false allegations. Never once in my health has my memory or anything been questioned, yeah I’m dyslexic and my words come out backward,” Sanchez added. “But, it is what it is, my brain is healthy and my mind is healthy. I have taken great care of myself and I just want to nip this one in the bud and tell everybody I have passed every medical test possible with flying colors. My heart, my brain, my mind. I’ve done everything. I just dust it off my shoulder.

“But, for the people out there, I got a message for everyone out there, stop being sheep and be a leader,” Diego Sanchez said. “Follow your gut, follow your heart, don’t just see a comment and be like ‘oh, I’m going with that, he’s the CTE guy. He must have, he was in all those wars, he must have.’ That’s bullshit, that’s complete bullshit, it has never been in question, it will never be in question because I take care of myself and I will get out of this sport if I ever have one underlying factor of CTE. If I had problems I wouldn’t be doing this shit. I’m doing this shit because I love it and I love the competition and I love building on my legacy.”

In order for Diego Sanchez to take the fight against Austin Trout, he says he did have to pass several medical exams on his brain which he passed. So, with that, he hopes all the talk of him having CTE comes to an end.

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