An Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of raping and killing a University of Oklahoma dance student in 1996 plans to proceed with his death sentence, rejecting his chance for a clemency hearing. 

Anthony Sanchez, 44, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday that he does not suspect Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, would spare his life.

"I’ve sat in my cell, and I’ve watched inmate after inmate after inmate get clemency and get denied clemency," Sanchez said. "Either way, it doesn’t go well for the inmates."

Sanchez cited the recent cases of Bigler Stouffer and James Coddington, both of whom were executed after a five-member Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency in a 3-2 vote. It was later ultimately rejected by Stitt. 

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"They went out there and poured their hearts out, man," Sanchez told AP. "Why would I want to be a part of anything like that, if you’re going to sit there and get these guys’ hopes up?"

"Why wouldn’t I try to prove my innocence through the courts," he added.

In 2021, the Republican governor granted clemency to Julius Jones, commuting his death sentence to life in prison without parole.

OKLAHOMA COURT REJECTS DEATH ROW INMATE'S CLAIM BLAMING FATHER FOR RAPE, MURDER

In April, the Oklahoma Court of Criminals rejected Sanchez's plea of innocence. 

Sanchez has maintained that his father, Thomas Sanchez, was 21-year-old Juli Busken's actual killer. 

Previously, Thomas' former girlfriend alleged that he confessed to killing the college student prior to his death by suicide. The court ruled that the allegations were hearsay and not enough to overcome "compelling evidence" of Anthony Sanchez’s guilt.

Busken's death went unsolved for years until DNA recovered from her clothes linked Anthony Sanchez to the crime. He was convicted of rape and murder — and sentenced to die in 2006.

She was abducted on Dec. 20, 1996, from her apartment complex in Norman, Oklahoma. Her body was found that evening in southeast Oklahoma City. She had been raped and shot in the head. 

Since Sanchez plans to reject a chance at clemency, he is expected to be killed by lethal injection on September 21, 2023. 

Governor Stitt's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter to weigh in on a potential battle of the billionaires between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.

What began as banter on Twitter between Musk, who owns the social media platform, and several users evolved into him challenging Meta CEO Zuckerberg to a cage match.

The Zuck, who owns Facebook and Instagram, appeared to accept the challenge, prompting Abbott, UFC President Dana White and others to comment on the potential bout.

"Do it," the Texas governor tweeted. "The biggest fight in UFC history."

ELON MUSK, MARK ZUCKERBERG 'ABSOLUTELY DEAD SERIOUS' ABOUT FIGHTING IN UFC OCTAGON, DANA WHITE SAYS

The cage match challenge stemmed from a report that Meta was working on a Twitter-like application that would be a direct competitor to the platform.

"I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options," Musk tweeted Tuesday.

A user commented on the post warning Musk to "be careful" as the Meta chief trains Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Seemingly unphased, the Twitter owner then said he would be willing to step into a cage with him.

Musk simply said: "I’m up for a cage match if he is lol."

The next day, Zuckerberg appeared to accept the challenge on his own platform.

MARK ZUCKERBERG AGREES TO CAGE FIGHT WITH ELON MUSK: 'SEND ME LOCATION'

"Send Me Location," Zuckerberg said on Instagram, providing a screenshot of Musk’s original challenge.

The answer made its way back to Twitter with Musk, who often tweets memes, confirming the offer was serious.

"If this is for real, I will do it," Musk said, later suggesting the "Vegas Octagon" as the location.

UFC’s Dana White told TMZ Sports the billionaires are "absolutely dead serious" about fighting.

"They both said, 'Yeah, we'll do it.' They both want to do it," he added.

White also spoke to the size of the celebrity contest, speculating it could be the "biggest fight ever in the history of the world."

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"Bigger than anything that's ever been done. It would break all pay-per-view records," the UFC president said. "These guys would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charity. You don't have to be a fighting fan to be interested in this fight. Everybody would want to see it."

He continued: "The biggest fight of all time was Floyd Mayweather and Conor [McGregor], I just think it triples that. I think it triples what that did. There's no limit on what that thing can make. … Everybody would watch it, everybody would want to see it."

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.