Diego Sanchez promised fans that they would see a better version of him at UFC Norfolk on Saturday Night

Unfortunately, that was not meant to be.

Fan favorites Matt Brown and Diego Sanchez were expected to put on a show worthy of Fight of the Night honors. Brown instead dropped a ferocious elbow on to Sanchez’s exposed chin, knocking him out in the first round.

While the attention was on Brown’s retirement plans post-fight, many believed that it was his opponent who should be considering hanging up his gloves. In his last four fights, Sanchez has lost three and been KO’d or stopped in the first round. While the 35-year-old did release a statement following the fight, there was no indication that he is considering walking away from the sport:

“All respect in martial arts 🥋 @iamtheimmorta and I both shared the same respect tonight. Losing in competition always hurts, but to have your opponent give you love and respect after is something special about our brutal hurt business @ufc,” Brown wrote to Instagram.