Diego Sanchez is back in custody in New Mexico after a new arrest in Socorro County added another legal issue to the former UFC fighter’s year.
Watch: Diego Sanchez Arrested in Socorro
KOB 4 reported that Sanchez was in the Socorro County Jail on Monday night, September 7, 2026. The station said jail records listed aggravated DWI and probation violation as the charges connected to the booking.
The arrest comes months after Sanchez received five years of supervised probation in his Albuquerque gun case. That sentence followed his plea in the 2025 case where police said a gun was fired from a moving vehicle in traffic.
Sanchez Faces New Trouble After Probation Sentence
The new case is especially significant because the earlier probation order included a condition tied to alcohol. KOB 4 reported that Sanchez was required to stay away from alcohol as part of that supervision.
Sanchez, 44, remains one of the most recognizable names from the UFC’s first major television breakthrough. He won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, fought for the UFC lightweight title against B.J. Penn in 2009, and his fight with Clay Guida was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
His post-UFC run has been turbulent. Sanchez lost to Kevin Lee under the Eagle FC banner in 2022, then took a bare-knuckle boxing bout against Austin Trout in 2023. His legal trouble escalated last year with the Albuquerque arrest, which later led to the probation sentence that is now part of the new Socorro County case.
The latest arrest also follows prior body-cam coverage from Sanchez’s earlier New Mexico case and his release after the 2025 Albuquerque arrest.
