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Diego Sanchez started training with Joshua Fabia along with his regular preparations at Jackson-Wink MMA for his fight against Micky Gall at UFC 235.
'The Nightmare' then took the bold decision to leave Jackson-Wink after 15 long years of association and appointed Fabia as his full-time coach ahead of his UFC 239 fight against Michael Chiesa in July of 2019.
Diego Sanchez's departure from Jackson-Wink MMA came as a surprise to the MMA community. While speaking to the media ahead of his UFC 239 appearance, Sanchez claimed he decided to leave his former camp a few weeks before the fight.
Sanchez cited Jackson-Wink's inability to help him grow as a mixed martial artist as the primary reason behind his decision to leave the camp.
“All I know is I wasn’t learning. I wasn’t growing as a mixed martial artist. They were just basically going through the motions with Diego Sanchez,” said Diego Sanchez said.
The move to Joshua Fabia's camp has not particularly turned out to be beneficial for Diego Sanchez from a competitive standpoint. Sanchez has lost two of the three fights he has competed in with Fabia in his corner.
The only win was a controversial disqualification victory against Michael Pereira in February of 2020, which led to Fabia coming under the scrutiny of the MMA community.
Following his removal from the scheduled retirement bout against Donald Cerrone on May 8th, Diego Sanchez was released from the UFC.
Who is Joshua Fabia?
Joshua Fabia is the founder of the Albuquerque-based institute, the School of Self Awareness. The website claims that Fabia is an accomplished athlete, healer, and trainer that helps military officials, Olympic-level athletes, and other individuals to better themselves. However, there is no evidence of Joshua's credentials or expertise presented to back this claim.
Joshua Fabia's relationship with Diego Sanchez has been at the forefront of the controversy surrounding his credentials as an MMA coach. While talking to Yahoo Sports about Diego Sanchez's release from the UFC, Dana White attacked Joshua Fabia for his questionable presence in Diego Sanchez's life. White even dismissed Fabia as a 'creepy weirdo'.
"One of the sad things that happens, not just in fighting but in sports, and I want you to quote me on this, are these creepy weirdos who come from God knows where and leech onto fighters or athletes. They never do any good for them... Somehow, this creep got into Diego's life and has been controlling him," said Dana White.
