Emmanuel Sanchez Willing to Fight Twice in One Night to Expedite Bellator Grand Prix

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Emmanuel Sanchez was on the verge of facing Daniel Weichel in the quarterfinals of the Bellator featherweight grand prix when the coronavirus pandemic changed everything.

The promotion canceled Bellator 241 on the day of the event due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. Sanchez and the rest of the athletes scheduled to participate on the card were paid, but Bellator has since postponed its upcoming schedule through June. The organization is reportedly exploring the possibility of holding closed-door events in California by July, but nothing is official at the moment.

“We’re not like other athletes. When you think of a basketball players, football players, soccer players, baseball players, they get paid whether they play or not,” Sanchez told Sherdog.com. “For us, we’ve got to fight in order to get paid and stay relevant to make a living….We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to make it happen. I’m excited, man. I can’t wait until Bellator announces the first closed event.”

As far as the Bellator featherweight bracket is concerned, A.J. McKee and Darrion Caldwell have already advanced to one semifinal. They were booked to meet in June at a now-postponed event. Meanwhile, Sanchez vs. Weichel and Patricio Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho were slated for Bellator 241, so the status of those bouts is to be determined. On his Instagram account, Sanchez recently expressed an interest having the quarterfinals and semifinals on his side of the bracket take place on the same night when Bellator events resume.

In fact, “El Matador” liked the idea of fighting twice in one night even before the coronavirus put fight schedules everywhere on hold.

“[That’s] just me wanting to get this ball moving, man,” said Sanchez, who helped Anthony Pettis prepare for his UFC 249 bout with Donald Cerrone. “I would’ve been willing to do it even before this happened. That’s just how bad I want to be champion.”

Of course, Sanchez would have to defeat Weichel before a second bout would even be a possibility in such a hypothetical scenario. The Roufusport product lost a closely-contested split decision to Weichel in their first meeting at Bellator 159 in 2016. While the verdict was contentious, Sanchez believes he has learned from the experience and will benefit from it in their rematch.

“In the middle of that battle, I wanted to be smart because that was the last man who fought for the title and nearly knocked out the champion. So I knew what he was capable of and the experience that he brought to the table,” Sanchez said. “I’ve already out kickboxed him for three rounds. I’ve already shown the holes in his game, the holes in my game — or what he tried to exploit. Closed event, open event, I can and will beat Daniel Weichel.”

Once Bellator is fully operational, Sanchez doesn’t want to waste time getting that rematch rebooked.

“The sooner, the better,” he said. “For me, I’ve been ready and waiting for quite some time now and I can’t wait to do it.”