To virtually everybody in the MMA world is painfully obvious that Diego Sanchez’s “self awareness” coach Joshua Fabia is a clueless buffoon who should be no where near the Octagon under any circumstances, let alone being the veteran fighter’s solitary cornerman for his past two fights.
However, Sanchez is sticking to his guns and has passionately defended Fabia in a new statement after luckily escaping certain defeat this past Saturday night against Michel Pereira when his opponent landed an illegal knee in the third round that resulted in his disqualification.
“School of Self-Awareness is exactly why I have had a record low damage since he has coached,” Sanchez wrote on Instagram. “I guess you are just not aware enough to see the change in my movement?? Probably didn’t notice thee size difference or the age?? But hey maybe your a great coach or trainer. How many thousands have trusted you for their better wellbeing? My guy has trained enough to help anyone from me to you my friend. Maybe you could be ok with me being me and making my own decisions. Oh how come you all don’t attack any other coaches for the athletes performance @gregjacksonmma or @jacksonwink_mma never were blamed for my performance but they always got credit for any successes. Speak truth. The real question to all you haters is why does @joshuafabiaknowbody bother you…What’s you real problem??? Honestly you guys may need @schoolofselfawareness more than you realize #truth.”
Regardless of what Sanchez is saying, his performance on Saturday night may well have been the most bizarre of his career, featured an awkward stance and movement, deer-in-the-headlights defense against the cage and a distinct lack of offensive (including landing just 6 of the 34 head strikes he threw).
It was more akin to what you’d expect from a wet-behind-the-ears rookie than a seasoned veteran and Fabia’s coaching between rounds, or lack thereof (“You need to go! I need to see you go swinging! …Quit acting like you don’t know how to do it,” certainly wasn’t helping.
It was enough to leave respected coach Trevor Wittman, who was on analyst duty for the ESPN broadcast, completely bemused.
“This is — I’ve known Diego for a long period of time. This is just very strange to me.
“He’s tough, he’s always got the heart to fight, but again, I don’t see what’s going on right now.”
Fabia has also defended himself, claiming that he’s a victim of a smear campaign from high profile figures like Joe Rogan, who was also highly critical of his previous cornering in Sanchez’s dominant decision loss to Michael Chiesa.
“It’s really awesome you and Joe Rogan know how to talk shit without saying my name but make sure it’s in metadata to be connected and found in search engines,” Fabia wrote on Instagram. “You think you’re slick. I am aware of what you are doing and you will be exposed for your biases. Very classy smear campaign. You guys are real gentlemen. Gotta tell you I really feel the love.”
