While unfortunate, it is hard to say that this was not seen coming. After the end of their professional relationship, Joshua Fabia unloaded on Diego Sanchez in a recent interview, making a wide array of accusations towards his former client.
The general consensus among MMA fans was that the split between Fabia and Sanchez could not have come soon enough. Their toxic partnership left fans of the TUF 1 winner concerned for his health, both physical and mental, and even led to his sudden departure from the UFC.
Following his split from the UFC, and subsequent reports that added to the concern, it was reported that Diego finally parted ways with Fabia. The self proclaimed guru would no longer be training the longtime veteran, nor would he hold power of attorney over the fighter.
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Joshua Fabia Defends Bizarre Training Tactics
One of the things that had fans concerned about the training methods of Joshua Fabia, was a video that emerged of Diego Sanchez hanging upside down while getting hit and kicked in the face. Speaking in a recent interview, Joshua was asked about a variety of topics, including this video.
The way he explained it, this was an exercise to strengthen Diego’s body, and condition his chin. Moreover, the so-called coach defended the technique, saying that what he was doing was less brutal than some training footage you can find online.
“You can go on YouTube right now and look up body hardening, and you can see some of the most ridiculous things, way beyond what you see me doing. What I was doing was gentle in comparison to what you’ll see others doing. It’s a very normal practice, body hardening,” Fabia said.
At this point, the interviewer brought up the fact that when most people do these body hardening training techniques, they do not go for the head, instead hitting the body. She brought up Conor McGregor as one of the prime examples of this, as he has been known to do these types of techniques in the past.
“The reality is, that’s beautiful for McGregor to say, but he also just got knocked the f—k out,” Fabia responded.
“The body has an ability to perceive the angle and direction of impact. The way the body perceives this is through contact first. So if I am to, for example, push you, your body is able to understand the direction that I’m going to push you. If now I pull away, I’m not touching you, I’m showing you the push, your body can anticipate and will move out of the way.
“Alright, now what happens when I do it with a fist?” Fabia continued. “So what you’re seeing there is for one, 50 times out of context, but the point is, in body hardening, you can not favor one part of the body, as every part of your body is vulnerable.”
From there, Joshua goes on to explain that he was not hitting Diego hard enough to damage anything, and was training Diego to handle harder impacts. He also says that the video was leaked by the UFC, who came in to film a training session, and then spun it out of context.
Diego Sanchez Was Asked To Throw Fights
Joshua Fabia alleges that the UFC released this training footage, and spun it out of context to make him look bad. When asked why they would want to do that, Joshua claims it was because he saw the UFC engage in sketchy behavior.
Apparently, he claims that the Nevada State Athletic Commission told Diego to throw a fight. While he would not go into much more detail than that, Joshua explained that this was something he saw and recorded, thus the UFC wanted to make him lose credibility.
“This moment happens where the Nevada State Commission comes in and looms on Diego, and he has to throw a f—king fight, and I had him record them coming in,” Fabia said.
“You go watch the fight and it’s the only fight in Diego Sanchez’s history, and it’s the only fight where he didn’t throw a single punch…
“The way that they did it is in the lean, which is in talking to somebody and dangling their license and explaining ‘Are you really trying to hurt this man? You’re not trying to hurt him, are you Diego? You’re a sportsman Diego, you’ve always been a good guy Diego. You’re not going to do anything with malicious intent, are you Diego?'” Fabia continued.
“You can call that whatever you want to call it, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission is not supposed to come in, 30 minutes before a fight, and kick everybody out and come and talk that type of s—t to a fighter and get in their head.”
Joshua Fabia Rips Diego Sanchez
From there, Joshua Fabia continues his claims of the UFC using fake Instagram profiles to post negative comments. The interview then takes a darker turn, as he claims that it was his decision to part ways with Diego, not the other way around.
There are many reasons that he gives for this decision, but it seems that the main driving factor was Joshua discovering that Diego did not have money. He then goes on a tangent to completely trash his former client, accusing him of being addicted to drugs and alcohol, and being special needs.
“I’m trying to express how I feel about what has happened in my time of two years, of being slandered by the UFC, working for a guy that falsely represented himself as a regular person. As I get to more information as I’m with a lawyer, and the lawyer talks to Diego and asked Diego about his education, and he starts talking about how he was in special education, holy s—t, huge red flags man,” Fabia said.
“This is not at all what anyone has perceived and Diego is not anywhere near what anybody knows, man. Diego has been an addict. He hasn’t told anybody for the last five months I was his sponsor, living with him, that I had to live there because he was broke and lost all his money, and he was strung out on kratom and alcohol, and 30 other substances, that he has sexual abuse issues.
“Nah he didn’t say any of that man, and I’ve been holding up all this, and everybody’s coming at me,” Fabia continued. “I’ve got all the proof, I’ll put out all the videos, man. Diego has literally been taking advantage of me for two years, as I have been fighting for him and putting myself on the line for him for zero benefit.”
There is no telling what side of the story is the right one, but it is clear that Diego Sanchez and Joshua Fabia are not right for each other. Hopefully from here, Diego is able to get whatever help he needs.
