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Chael Sonnen believes the media shouldn’t assist maligned MMA trainer Joshua Fabia in revealing private information about Diego Sanchez.
Sonnen requested the MMA media and the community as a whole to refrain from helping Joshua Fabia and his former pupil Diego Sanchez take their disagreement to the public domain.
The MMA legend believes that continually attacking Joshua Fabia and Diego Sanchez via social media platforms might make the duo feel the need to prove their respective innocence.
In an episode of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen shed light upon former UFC star Diego Sanchez and Joshua Fabia having parted ways earlier this month.
Sonnen stated –
“Joshua and Diego split. Now, I’d kind of rather stay out of this thing. I really would kind of rather stay out of this thing. I never understood that dynamic. I never really understood why the whole world, we all, decided that we hated Joshua. Joshua came into a sport in which he likely didn’t belong, doing a job that he never asked for, and stood up for his guy. I didn’t really see what was so terrible about that."
"On the other side of the coin, Diego – who is an expert at something, including training, not just the sport, but also on how you prepare for it – began to prepare in ways that a more rational Diego would’ve rejected. And that was a cause of concern. And as a community, to show our support to Diego, (we) had to turn on somebody, right?"
"If one guy gets to be the hero, there’s got to be a villain. And we all decided that was going to be Joshua. Okay, fine. And don’t pass judgment on me for that. I’m passing down for you what had happened. But the reason I am interjecting is I do know both of these guys. Stop. Stop. This has to stop.”
“Joshua had come out earlier today, and he’s upset, and he’s angry, and he’s starting to air the dirty laundry, if you will. But he hasn’t done it yet. He’s even said I have footage, I have proof, I have tape, and I’m going to release it. No, stop. Don’t do that. Stop. The threat was good, but we’ve gotta stop. There is a ‘Man Code’. And I do not mean male. It’s human, ‘Human Code’. And there’s certain things that are privileged, period.”
Chael Sonnen explained that even if Joshua Fabia feels releasing the evidence he claims to have will prove his innocence, the trainer shouldn’t go ahead with the same.
‘The American Gangster’ suggested that if Fabia does release videos and/or other material that might contain private and sensitive information about Diego Sanchez, he’d be breaking the ‘Man Code’ aka ‘Human Code’.
Sonnen said –
“I don’t know who’s right here. I don’t know who’s wrong here. What I suggest for us, as a community – Because it’s us that’s making Joshua feel that he has to do this. And it’s gonna be us that’s going to make Diego feel like he has to do it. Stop. We get enough drama in other places. It’s not worth it to pick on Joshua as a way of getting him to put out the videos, the evidence, to make Diego look bad. Man, it’s not worth it. And then what, once we get our fill on that drama, we’re gonna come back and turn on Joshua to show our support to Diego?"
"Stop. We’ve gotta stop. No media members should take that. I will tell you for myself, I would not draw a distinction between those who revealed privileged information or the media members who allow them to reveal privileged information. And if you try to sit back like the host and just kind of shrug your shoulders and go, ‘Wow. Jeez. I really didn’t see that coming’, you’re using it to get clicks and to further your own career.”
“I’m just sharing. Between me and you, I will not draw a distinction. Whatever damning information or harming or embarrassing that Diego has, that’s private. Those videos should be destroyed. Diego has the right to certain amounts of private life. And the things that you would share with your coach, who you fully trust, yeah, if he ever wanted to turn the gun onto you and come out and embarrass you, he would. For sure, he would. Sure. Joshua hasn’t gone too far. He made a threat. A threat only has the power that the person being threatened allows it to have. It hasn’t actually happened yet. Stop. Stop. That’s privileged. And for any of you that help and enable Joshua or Diego in this matter to break that code and reveal privileged information, shame on you. And you will have me to deal with. (H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Chael Sonnen explained that irrespective of the personal differences two individuals may have in a relationship, once the relationship ends, the partners are supposed to respectfully walk away rather than disclose each other’s secrets to the general public.
Diego Sanchez and Joshua Fabia parted ways a few days ago
Diego Sanchez had long been a staple of the world-renowned Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sanchez parted ways with the gym in 2019 and started training full-time under the guidance of Joshua Fabia. An individual who’s said to be a lifestyle coach, Fabia is the founder of the School of Self-Awareness.
Fabia’s association with Diego Sanchez and the former’s high-risk training techniques gradually drew the ire of the MMA community. Many fans and experts pleaded with Diego Sanchez to stop training under Fabia and cut ties with the latter altogether.
One of the most notable instances of Fabia’s high-risk techniques was his body-hardening training technique, in which he suspended Diego Sanchez upside-down and struck Sanchez to the head and the body. Needless to say, the vast majority of the combat sports world strongly condemned Fabia’s actions.
On May 20th, 2021, the MMA community was once again set abuzz by news regarding Diego Sanchez and Joshua Fabia. This time around though, the MMA community responded on an optimistic and celebratory note, as the news was about Diego Sanchez cutting ties with Fabia.
Many in the MMA world viewed this as a positive development for Diego Sanchez. Regardless, Fabia seemingly took umbrage at Sanchez’s departure and claimed that Sanchez had taken advantage of him for the past two years. He also suggested that Diego Sanchez had used banned PEDs, thrown a fight, and was also a drug addict.
Furthermore, Fabia claimed that he has evidence of Diego Sanchez’s wrongdoings and insinuated that he will eventually release the evidence. Meanwhile, following his split with Fabia, Diego Sanchez indicated that he’ll be issuing an official statement regarding the situation in about a week’s time.
