The Ultimate Fighter 1 star Diego Sanchez will remain in jail for another 30 days over an impaired driving probation violation from early September.
Sanchez was arrested at a gas station in Socorro County, New Mexico on September 8th after police breathalyzed the former UFC fighter and discovered his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the arrest triggered a probation violation that could have resulted in Sanchez going to prison for years.
Earlier this year,
Sanchez pleaded guilty to shooting a gun from a moving vehicle in 2025 — a felony offense. As part of a plea deal, the 44-year-old was put on five years probation. Diego didn’t even make it six months before getting caught driving under the influence. He was jailed without bond on September 7th and has been incarcerated since then.
Sanchez became a UFC star back in 2005 after winning the first Ultimate Fighter tournament on SpikeTV. For the next seven years he remained an entertaining contender in the lightweight division, and then a scrappy mid-carder in his fading years. He’d fall under the spell of a charlatan coach at the end of his career, resulting in the UFC unceremoniously releasing him from his contract.
During a hearing on Wednesday October 7th, a judge sentenced Sanchez to an addition 30 days in jail plus a requirement that he complete a drugs and alcohol rehab program. That’s quite the deal for Diego … the judge could have put him in jail for the full 6.5 year sentence from his gun offense, but instead opted to give him another chance.
Here’s hoping Diego Sanchez can turn things around, because that’s the last chance he’s likely to get.
