The original TUF tournament winner, Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez has a heart of gold, and that’s a fact!

Issac “The Shermanator” Marquez, who has Down Syndrome, had the opportunity to take on Sanchez in an exhibition fight at Jackson Wink Fight Night 2 at the Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

UFC veteran Diego Sanchez got permission from Dana White to have an exhibition fight against Ivan Marquez. pic.twitter.com/czaGy30fgd — Van Tate (@krqesports) November 29, 2017

Isaac is more than just opponent to Sanchez, though; he is a friend and training partner at Jackson Wink. In an interview with KRQE, Sanchez said of his friend:

[Isaac “The Shermanator” Marquez] came to [Jackson Wink MMA Academy] to just come and check out the gym and I told him, ‘You like MMA?’ and he said, ‘I love fighting,’ and then I said, ‘Alright. Well are you here to just watch or do you want to train?’ and he said, ‘I want to train.’ So, I said alright let’s do this. He believes it with all of his heart, so I am going to make it happen. You know, he will be facing me, so I will be his opponent and we are going to have a championship fight. Isaac [Marquez] lost his mother to dementia and if you ever talk to Isaac he will show you his tattoo. He is doing it all for his mom, and he is going to win the championship for his mom. So, that’s the kind of heart that this kid has.

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He believes it with all of his heart, so I am going to make it happen. You know, he will be facing me, so I will be his opponent and we are going to have a championship fight.

A post shared by Isaac Marquez "SHERMANATOR" (@isaacmarquezabq) on Jun 29, 2017 at 11:28am PDT

A post shared by Isaac Marquez "SHERMANATOR" (@isaacmarquezabq) on Jun 15, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

Here is the video below of Sanchez’s fight with his friend, Isaac.

Diego Sanchez suffers defeat last night in New Mexico Posted by Cris Cyborg UFC on Saturday, December 2, 2017

Works cited: KRQE