Diego Sanchez, a former UFC fighter and the inaugural winner of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, received a five-year supervised probation sentence from an Albuquerque judge on Thursday.
This sentence comes after an incident in July 2025 where the renowned mixed martial artist discharged a firearm into the air from a vehicle while in traffic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sanchez admitted guilt in February to a felony charge following his arrest near the intersection of I-40 and University. Prosecutors stated that he fired the weapon while driving past the scene of an accident.
According to a report by KOB 4, Sanchez stated in court, “People do make mistakes, you know, this is Albuquerque, the wild wild west, I made a bad mistake.”
Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term, though the maximum penalty for this offense is six and a half years.
Sanchez further commented, “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.”