Mickey Gall wants Diego Sanchez rematch, says kidney complications were to blame

Mickey Gall came into his last fight compromised, and would like nothing more than to run it back.

After scoring the biggest win of his UFC career, taking out veteran George Sullivan in just over a minute, Gall (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) suffered a setback when he lost to Diego Sanchez via TKO at UFC 235.

It was a fight were Gall never really got a chance to get going, as his body gave out on him during the fight. He got off to a fast start and just couldn’t keep up the pace, succumbing to Sanchez’s pressure and grappling.

And he believes had his kidneys not failed him, he would have dominated the fight.

“I was just sick, if had gotten me any other day of the year, he would have gotten his (expletive) kicked,” Gall told MMA Junkie. ‘If I didn’t have the kidney complications, I would have killed him.”

Dehydration had a part to play which affected his weight cut, hindering his performance. When asked if the cut to 170 pounds is something he has to think about, Gall insists the cut down to 170 won’t be a problem in the future.

“One-seventy is fine for me, it was just some health complications leading up to the fight,” Gall said. “It zapped my energy and I was pretty useless in there. I was struggling for just balance, I was so exhausted, it’s nothing like I ever felt before but I don’t anticipate ever feeling that again.”

“I’d been sick leading up to the fight and I think that being sick dehydrated me and then with the dehydrating and the cutting weight I think that was a little too much for my body so that’s pretty much what that was.”

Gall was anxious to bounce back and when the UFC finally decided on a location for the Aug. 3 card in Newark, the New Jersey native Gall, was ready to step up.

He got the call to step in for Zelim Imadaev and take on Salim Touahri (10-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) on the UFC on ESPN 5 card at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

“When I saw that that card was announced, when it changed to Jersey, I was mentally preparing myself to fight on it,” Gall said. “I figured they’d offer me someone and they wanted to get me on there either way which I was happy about.”

Gall admits he didn’t know who Touahri was but was willing to fight anyone the UFC offered him. After looking up Touahri, Gall feels good about the matchup.

“I looked him up and I liked the matchup,” Gall said. “I think he looks tough, his nickname is grizzly, I bet he’s strong, but he won’t be stronger than me. I think I get him out of there and finish him before the third round. Either a knockout or a submission.”

And he’ll get to do it in front of his home crowd, where he’ll have plenty of friends and family in attendance. It’ll be the first time in his young UF career, that he gets the opportunity to do so.

“It’s cool,” Gall said. “I’ll have a lot of support in the building and I’ll be riding that energy, and take it right to my victory.”

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