Last week, UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez parted ways with his manager, mentor, and lifestyle coach Joshua Fabia.
The MMA group was divided over Sanchez’s professional partnership with the self-proclaimed healer and founder of the School of Self-Awareness.
Though their relationship has been a topic of discussion since Sanchez began working with Fabia in 2019 ahead of his UFC 235 match with Mickey Gall, it has recently resurfaced.
Many claim that Sanchez was released from the UFC because of Fabia.
Fabia recently appeared on Summer Helene’s Behind the Scenes podcast for his first post-split interview, where he blasted his former client and student. Fabia said that the UFC and NSAC forced Sanchez to ‘throw the fight’ against Michael Chiesa at UFC 239.
On the podcast, Fabia went on a rant, ignoring questions about the actual split and unloading a slew of claims on Sanchez, including charges of drug abuse.
Sanchez, according to Fabia, had been addicted to alcohol and various forms of narcotics for many months.
“Diego has been an addict. He hasn’t told anybody for the past five months. I was his sponsor, living with him,” Fabia said.
I had to live there because he was broke and lost all his money and was strong out on kratom and alcohol and thirty other substances, that he had sexual abuse issues – no, no, he didn’t say any of that, and I have been holding up all this. I’ve been doing everything, and everyone’s coming at me.”
He also claimed that Sanchez won the High School State Wrestling Championship with the help of steroids.
Fabia justifies training method
Several events have recently brought Sanchez and Fabia into the spotlight, including the duo’s request for Sanchez’s medical records from the UFC.
The most notorious of these were Fabia’s bizarre training methods.
This training video attracted harsh criticism from top UFC fighters such as Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, as well as MMA fans worldwide.
Fabia defended himself on the podcast with Summer Helene by saying it was a typical “body hardening technique”.
“You can go on YouTube right now and go look at body hardening, and you will 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 will see others doing. It’s a very normal practice – body hardening,” Fabia stated.
After severing ties with Fabia, Sanchez revealed some truths about their relationship, which definitely does not sound like a typical fighter-coach dynamic. Sanchez said that he had to disown family members to be faithful to Fabia.
He recently announced to MMA Fighting that he is in negotiations with the UFC again and has decided to participate in the Professional Athlete Brain Health Study in order to improve.
read more: โI had a lot of hard truths I have had to look atโ: Diego Sanchez splits with coach Joshua Fabia