Sanchez views fighting like he does a puzzle. He’s been able to place a piece here and there since winning season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, but he’s always struggled to put it all together. Sanchez’s big move to the American Kickboxing Academy wasn’t prompted by the idea that he couldn’t grow at Tristar or that he needed a change of scenery; it was simply a way for Sanchez to find more pieces to his puzzle.
“It’s a big puzzle, it’s a f****** huge puzzle,” Sanchez said. “I think I’m on the track to figuring it out.”
Getting back to his wrestling roots was also a major part of why Sanchez chose AKA as his destination. Sanchez felt like he morphed into a striker over the course of his eight-fight UFC career and that’s just not who he was. He had become comfortable just striking, and believes that the key to evolution is being constantly uncomfortable.
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The 33-year-old was definitely feeling that each and every day on the mats at AKA.
“I went to a place where I didn’t know anybody; I didn’t know a single soul. They don’t hype you up there, either. They are a very close group of people, but going there, everyone wants to take your head off. They want a piece of you, they want to test you,” Sanchez said. “This builds character, this builds confidence, this builds resilience and gets me back to the mentality of what got me to the UFC.”