Diego Sanchez, the renowned former UFC fighter and inaugural winner of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, was handed a five-year supervised probation sentence by an Albuquerque judge on Thursday.
This punitive measure arises from an incident that occurred in July 2025. During this event, the celebrated professional mixed martial artist discharged a firearm into the air from a Jeep amidst traffic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sanchez pleaded guilty to a felony charge in February, following his arrest near the intersection of I-40 and University. Prosecutors stated that he fired the weapon while driving past a traffic collision.
As reported by KOB 4, Sanchez addressed the court, remarking, “People do make mistakes, you know, this is Albuquerque, the wild wild west, I made a bad mistake.”
Although prosecutors had sought a two-year prison sentence, the maximum penalty for the offense in question is six and a half years.
Sanchez further expressed his commitment to positive change: “All I can do is take accountability, own it, you know, and spread positivity to the youth and the next generation to change these ways. Not to be shooting out cows– shooting out windows like cowboys.”
