Connelly: People are 'too harsh' toward Diego Sanchez

UFC lightweight Tristan Connelly doesn't believe fans are being fair to Diego Sanchez after he chose to take his disqualification victory at UFC Rio Rancho.

Sanchez was hit with an illegal knee from Michel Pereira in the third round of their Feb. 15 co-main event matchup. The 38-year-old was awarded the win after telling the referee he was unable to continue. "The Ultimate Fighter" season one winner received backlash on social media for not fighting through, and Connelly doesn't understand it.

"People are being too harsh to Diego," Connelly told theScore. "You can’t expect him to continue after that. First of all, I thought Michel (Pereira) looked great. He fought smart. He had his flashy stuff in there. But he messed up. He made a mistake and it's unfortunate. He was winning the fight, he was doing everything he needed to do. It sucks but you can't expect Diego to continue."

Connelly (14-6) defeated Periera up a weight class in his promotional debut last September at UFC Vancouver. The Checkmat Vancouver product thinks the biggest lesson here is that Periera should be more careful executing his striking.

The B.C. native will return to the cage on April 11 against Alex da Silva at UFC Portland at his natural weight of 155 pounds. Despite being one of the older fighters in the lightweight division, Connelly is hopeful he can compete for years to come.

"You're always one fight away from retirement potentially," the 34-year-old explained. "If things are going well I'll probably go until I’m 40. You don't see many guys do well past 40. If you get to 40 and you're still fighting. You're still working up the ranks.

I feel like genetically, I'm younger than my actual age. I don't have any nagging injuries that are slowing me down. I feel like I'm coming into my prime now. I'm planning on fighting another four or five years. That's where I'm sitting, fighting until I'm 38 to 40."

UFC Portland will take place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Former title challenger Alistair Overeem headlines the card against Walt Harris in the main event.

The full video interview with Connelly will be available on theScoreMMA podcast next week on our Youtube channel. Subscribe to our channel here.