Sanchez returns from hiatus for Jackson Series fight
Even warriors need a break once in a while. Angelo “San-I Warrior” Sanchez has had his. Now, he’s back. Sanchez, a San Ildefonso Pueblo native (hence the nickname) who lives in Santa Fe, is scheduled to face Denver’s Josh Wick tonight in a featured fight on a Jackson MMA Series card at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino.
It will be Sanchez’s return to the cage after an absence of almost two years. He last fought on Dec. 6, 2014, defeating Brian Castillo by first-round submission (rear naked choke).
The hiatus, Sanchez said in a phone interview, was completely voluntary.
“I just needed a break in life,” he said. “I’d been fighting nonstop for eight years. I just needed to kind of take a break and re-evaluate my life, just see where I wanted to go from there.
“The main focus was on my kids. I’d spent a lot of time away from them.”
A martial artist, though, is always a martial artist. Sanchez stayed involved with the sport, coaching and teaching.
Meanwhile, Glenn Jaramillo, a friend and sponsor, put Sanchez to work at his Santa Fe auto-repair shop.
“I started off sweeping and mopping, and now I’m actually running the office,” he said.
Sanchez has done his share of mopping up in the cage, as well. His 13-6 record includes a string of 10 wins in 11 fights between July 2008 and August 2013. He’s a former King of the Cage featherweight champion.
At age 32, Sanchez believes all his skills are still there.
Just as important, if not more so, the desire is there as well.
“I think (the break) has done me good,” Sanchez said. “I had a lot of nagging injuries, and when you fight on a consistent basis it’s really hard to heal.
“Mentally, you do (MMA) for so long and it’s just like anything else, a job. So it was nice to take a break, kind of re-light that fire and get that drive again.”
In recent months, Sanchez had started competing in jiujitsu competitions. But it wasn’t enough.
“I felt that need to compete,” he said. “I got some sort of satisfaction (from jiujitsu), but what about putting it all together again?
“That’s one reason I love MMA so much, is because it’s not just one thing. It’s everything.”
In Wick (6-2), Sanchez will be facing a submission specialist. All of Wick’s victories have come via that route.
“I definitely like to know what my opponent likes to do, whether they like to stand or go to the ground,” Sanchez said. “... I do watch tape and I do take a look at what (opponents) do, who they’ve done it to.
“As far as having an exact game plan based on just what he can do, no. I’m really more interested in what I can do.”
Interest in Sanchez has always run high at Buffalo Thunder, in his own backyard. He’s undefeated (4-0) at the venue in Pojoaque. He’s a former Pojoaque resident.
“People have been asking me when I was gonna fight again, and I’ve really gotten a positive response,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that have seen me fight or that have wanted to see me fight. It was really good to know that there’s still a lot of support out there for me.”
BOXING: Española super bantamweight Tony Valdez (8-5-6, seven knockouts) will step into the ring against an undefeated opponent tonight at Camel Rock Casino. But records can be deceiving.
Las Cruces’ Augustine Banegas is 9-0 as a pro (two knockouts), but a closer look at his record suggests he has not fought anyone of Valdez’s caliber. None of Banegas’ nine opponents had a winning record when he fought them.
Valdez has fought eight times against opponents with a winning record. He’s 2-2-4 in those bouts.
The Española fighter, though, is coming of a loss at Camel Rock in February to Raymond Chacon, who was 5-17 entering the bout. Tonight’s card marks the return to the ring of 39-year-old Santa Fe junior middleweight Joaquin Zamora (20-4-1, 12 KOs), who’s matched against Texan Larry Smith (10-31, seven KOs) in a four-rounder.