Diego Sanchez sends warning to Austin Trout ahead of KnuckleMania 3: “You are not who you think you are and you are in for a rude awakening”

Diego Sanchez believes Austin Trout is overlooking him.

Sanchez is set to make his BKFC debut at KnuckleMania 3 against Trout who is the former WBA light middleweight champion. The pro boxer has fought the likes of Canelo Alvarez and the Charlo twins. Given Trout is a big name in boxing, Sanchez was excited when he got the call to fight him as he wanted the biggest name possible for his debut.

“The opponent didn’t really matter to me. I was probably looking to fight at 175, for what matters is mostly BKFC and the star name of the sell,” Sanchez said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I was looking for the biggest name that would sell the most because I’m here to help and bless and bring numbers and bring my fan base and I needed a good name. So, here’s Austin Trout who is a boxing world champion and has the highest credentials possible in the striking department so that is the type of opponent I was looking to face.”

Once the fight was finalized, Sanchez began studying Trout and is confident he will surprise many. He believes Trout is overlooking him and won’t take him seriously given the fact he has won a world title in boxing. However, the UFC veteran has sent a warning to Trout to not overlook him and reminds him he is not the top-level boxer he thinks he is.

“A little surprised, honestly, but I’m happy he is doing it… He’s doing it because he wants to be great and I have nothing but respect for those thoughts and actions,” Sanchez said. “I feel like I have the better line of experience going into BKFC where you can actively fight in the clinch and you are fighting with a smaller circumference of a fist. I think he is overconfident, I think he overlooked me watching my striking in my MMA fights.

“But, he is so confident he thinks no MMA fighter can hang with him with his hands, he thinks he is Floyd Mayweather but you are not Floyd Mayweather you are Austin Trout,” Sanchez continued. “You are not the guy who beat Canelo, you are the guy who got beat by Canelo, you are not who you think you are and you are in for a rude awakening.”

With Diego Sanchez thinking Austin Trout is underestimating him, he believes he can surprise and catch him early. The plan is to be aggressive early as Sanchez thinks in BKFC the aggressive fighter is the one that usually wins.

Should Sanchez be able to get off first, he thinks it will only be a matter of time until Sanchez gets the stoppage. He thinks Trout will have a hard time dealing with getting hit by a bare-knuckle as well as throwing punches bare-knuckle.

“The bottom line is this, in BKFC you have to get off first and be aggressive. I have to get in there and take care of business,” Sanchez said. “I’m not going in there to box with him, I’m going to make this shit nasty and I’m going to make it ugly and I’m going to be a nightmare in there man. I’m going to be all over his ass from the minute the fight starts to the minute that they stop the fight. It’s going to be a stoppage or a knockout. I’m not going to let up and if he thinks he is going to counter me with a jab or a weak straight left, nah, that shit ain’t happening.”

If Sanchez does get his hand raised, he doesn’t care if a title shot will come next. Instead, he says the goal is to face Nick Diaz in BKFC next time out.

“As far as it goes for me, I’m not chasing the belt. Yeah, it would be great to feel gold around my waist again. I won the King of the Cage world title back in 2001 but you know I’m not chasing that,” Sanchez concluded. “I’m chasing the legacy, I’m chasing the big names the biggest and best that I can. The fight after this could be a title fight but the fight that I really want is Nick Diaz in BKFC.”

Do you think Diego Sanchez will KO Austin Trout at KnuckleMania 3?