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“Not your average cookie jar!”
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) multi-weight veteran, Diego Sanchez, was able to steal a win at the UFC Rio Rancho mixed martial arts (MMA) event last weekend on ESPN+, despite getting dominated by Michel Pereira, who threw his victory in the trash by way of third-round illegal knee.
After the dust had settled at Santa Ana Star Center, Sanchez and “Healer/Self-Awareness Expert” Joshua Fabia, who serves as trainer and manager for the former Jackson-Wink standout, faced criticism for a bizarre gameplan and “strange corner advice” that had most media members scratching their heads.
And others calling for an intervention.
“Listening to that last corner work was very strange,” UFC commentator and longtime MMA coach Trevor Wittman said (via MMA Junkie). “I mean, there was – I don’t know if it’s code or what, but he’s talking about being ‘tight’ and ‘sticky’ and keep the movement but don’t keep the movement. Like, I just – like, this is – I’ve known Diego a long period of time. This is just strange to me.”
“I really don’t know what he’s doing,” analyst Daniel Cormier added between rounds.
Someone should probably tell Fabia that UFC color commentator Joe Rogan only calls pay-per-view (PPV) events and was not in the booth that night.
“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.”
Sanchez echoed his guru’s statement by lashing out at “media bullies.”
“When the media is bullying don’t allow them to get away with it, call them out on their shit publicly,” Sanchez added. “Go read the comments in on the recent post about listening to the STRANGE corner advice I received!”
Sanchez (30-12) was a staple at Jackson-Wink MMA for most of his career, but left the Albuquerque-based gym last summer after failing to grow as a martial artist (his words). In addition, the coaches were not treating him the way a hall of famer deserves to be treated (read his full comments here).
Not that anyone gives a rat’s ass what I think, but regardless of whether or not Sanchez and his coach are content with their current business relationship, the results speak for themselves.
The 38 year-old “Nightmare” looked like complete garbage last weekend in Rio Rancho.
Perhaps this is the kind of performance you can expect after 16 years of violence inside the cage, or maybe Sanchez was saddled with a goofy gameplan. Either way, I don’t think any of the criticism stemming from his DQ win was meant to be mean-spirited, unless we’re talking about this unexpected callout.