Diego Sanchez accuses Austin Trout of cheating, threatens legal action after BKFC debut loss

On the heels of a TKO loss in his bareknuckle boxing debut, Diego Sanchez is crying foul.

UFC Hall of Famer Sanchez lost to former WBA boxing champion Austin Trout this past Friday at BKFC Knucklemania 3 in Albuquerque, N.M. The fight was waved off in the fourth round by the cageside doctor, who said Sanchez, who was a bloody mess, had taken too much damage to continue.

After the fight, Sanchez took issue with the loss and claimed Trout was overly greased – and that he didn’t get any, himself.

“First of all I didn’t get any Vaseline put on me!” Sanchez posted in an Instagram reel. “Secondly, I did feel that Vaseline all on his shoulder and his neck during the fight it was put on so heavy I could not utilize the clinch this is cheating everybody so with that being said, I am the victorious champion and I count this as a win. Hopefully we can get the decision overturned. I will be talking with my lawyer soon. @davidfeldmanbkfc @swfightnews @bareknuckle @mmajunkie god always has my back what a relief walking down the mountain to this news.”

In a separate post on Instagram, Sanchez made further greasing complaints and also said he’s coming to the end of his career

“And maybe this was just pure coincidence that I said publicly my game plan was to get inside grab his neck mma style and work from that position! I’m not baring false witness on any one nodoubttrout or @bareknucklefc or G the guy doing it. but the facts are it happened and when I decided to take this fight I knew Austin was top notch boxer with a longer reach the main reason I said yes to the fight was my chances in the clinch due to the fact he was used to boxing gloves and the clinch would be new to him giving me my advantage and him his! A fair fight not in mma not in boxing but in a middle place! @davidfeldmanbkfc was nothing but love and respect and we broke all standing Bkfc records attendance and on the app. So maybe it was coincidence but like I said there was no one rubbing vasoline on my neck or my beard and trust me my jaw is swore today I still have not ate solid food yet I could have used some vasoline on my beard. I have spoke I hope the truth comes out because that was not FairPlay! I’m at the end of the career not done but I feel the end on the horizon. I hope my fans support me in getting justice how bout we do a rematch in mma so I can get my justice. In Jesus name I pray for justice and truth so that whomever messed up should be held accountable for I took a lot of hits with no gloves. If the tables were turned and I bloodied up Austin and a tape came out with me having my neck and full beard being heavily lubed with vasoline! And I promise you I felt that vasoline when my fingers slipped unaturally off his neck when I did get there!”

Sanchez, 41, has lost three straight fights. Prior to his BKFC debut, he lost a unanimous decision to Kevin Lee at Eagle FC 46. Before that, he lost a decision in his final UFC bout against Jake Matthews.

After concerns about concussions and neurological issues, Sanchez’s BKFC debut was approved by the New Mexico Athletic Commission after medical testing.