Midnight Mania! Sanchez’s Controversial Coach Has Beef With ‘Valhalla’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Diego Sanchez’s coach, Joshua Fabia, is an impressive man. Not because of his accomplishments or martial arts prowess, but it takes a fair amount of innovation to stand out as the weirdest in the sphere of MMA. Think about it: this is a sport where Tony Ferguson kicks metal pipes for fun and Mike Perry claims to be black, yet Fabia has elevated himself and Diego Sanchez to a platform of strange raised far beyond the rest.

Sadly, the dynamic duo has faced criticisms from those who do not recognize their genius. Fabia and Sanchez recently blasted “media bullies” for their “smear campaign” against his visionary teachings, and now UFC Welterweight Emil Meek is faced with their scorn as well. “Valhalla” spoke recently about his bizarre training session with Fabia and Sanchez, noting that at one point he was chased “with a real, sharp blade.”

In the clip below, Fabia accuses Meek of focusing on the stabby parts of the training session — who could imagine why? — to divert attention from the fact that Sanchez was “owning him” in grappling.

Meek has since responded, elaborating further on the unusual methods employed by the headmaster of the School of Self-Awareness.

I’ll just come out and say it: we need a Game Of Thrones-style trial of combat to decide which man is in the right. Lock Meek and Sanchez in the cage with each other, and the man who remains standing at the end of 15 minutes is clearly in the right of this disagreement. The fight kind of makes sense anyway. Sanchez is not performing well, and Meek has lost three straight bouts.

Run it!

Insomnia

Petr Yan is tired of Henry Cejudo’s sh*t.

This week, they let John Lineker be the man throwing punches!

It’s easy to get distracted by all the hype and face tattoos and goofiness, but Sean O’Malley seems to me a very talented prospect with a decent bit of self-awareness.

Similarly, it’s cool to get a peak past the bravado of “Stylebender.”

Coach Javier Mendez betrayed Khabib and revealing his stolen glasses to the world (and original owner, Islam Makhachev).

At least the old dude is staying active … I guess.

jOaNnA sPeNdS tOo MuCh TiMe At ThE bEaCh.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Weili Zhang’s knockout title win is such an interesting outcome to me. On one hand, it’s hugely impressive, because, well, watch that violence and athleticism! At the same time, Andrade pretty much ran forward face-first into a slugfest in the opening minute, which threw away her main advantage of cardio and volume.

There are still many questions to be answered about “Magnum.”

Superman elbow seems like a great technique to use when an opponent is trapped against the fence.

Tenshin Nasukawa is ridiculously entertaining, and his incredible performances also help confirm my belief that being a Southpaw is simply a huge advantage.

Random Land

Absolutely terrifying.

Midnight Music: A slice of uplifting soul from Livin’ on a High Note, the 2016 LP from legendary gospel singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.