Diego Sanchez, a UFC Hall of Famer, told MMA Fighting on Thursday that he is no longer working with Joshua Fabia as a manager, coach, or guru.
Sanchez refused to comment further on the issue, stating that he might make a statement next week and that he needed time to collect his views before speaking to the press.
Sanchez’s lawyer, Charles Lakins, said Sanchez made the decision to quit Fabia on Thursday. He also claimed that Sanchez had severed his business relations with the coach.
Fabia’s power of attorney has been revoked/terminated, according to Lakins.
Fabia did not respond to a request for comment right away.
Before his fight with Mickey Gall at UFC 235, Sanchez started working professionally with Fabia in 2019. The MMA community was divided over his relationship with the self-described healer and owner of the School of Self Awareness, with fans and fighters concerned about the coach and manager’s level of influence over his future.
At UFC events where Sanchez competed, Fabia had several run-ins with UFC executives and employees. Fabia raised red flags with executives after demanding all of Sanchez’s medical paperwork from his decade-plus career in the UFC in the build-up to a UFC Vegas 26 fight with Donald Cerrone that he and Sanchez billed as a retirement bout.
Campbell expressed concern about Sanchez’s well-being in a call Fabia secretly recorded with executives Sean Shelby and Hunter Campbell and said he would ask the fighter to certify he was free of any short- or long-term medical problems.
Sanchez was removed from the fight and released from the contract after refusing to certify that he was free of all problems, including those related to his brain health, through Lakins.
In the aftermath of the fight’s cancellation, Fabia and Sanchez consistently slammed the UFC. Sanchez later reconnected with the promotion and decided to take part in the Professional Athletes Brain Health research, which was partially sponsored by the promotion, as he previously mentioned to MMA Fighting.
He also said that he would stay loyal to Fabia because the coach and manager had done so much for him during their time together.
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