Diego Sanchez discusses benefits of training with ‘self awareness’ coach Joshua Fabia

After spending the majority of his fighting career with the famed JacksonWink MMA team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Diego Sanchez cut ties with the gym and began working with a man named Joshua Fabia.

Fabia, a ‘self awareness’ coach, has very little experience in the martial arts. As a result, many fans were critical of Sanchez’s decision to train with this unconventional coach.

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According to Sanchez himself, however, the move is paying dividends.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting ahead of his UFC Rio Rancho scrap with Michel Pereira, Sanchez celebrated the improvements he’s made while working with Fabia.

“This is without a doubt the most important moment of my life right now,” Sanchez said. “It goes way more further than a career. Because I’m not just fighting for me anymore. I’m fighting for every single one of the people out there in the world. The people that want to follow me. The people that support me. The people that listen to the transformation as I speak better even though people have the nerve to say, ‘Oh he has CTE. Because he picked this trainer, he must have CTE, he’s brainwashed.’

“Notice the transformation,” Sanchez continued. “Notice my eloquent speech that gets better each and every time. Just notice. Notice my health. Notice that I don’t have any injuries. Notice that I don’t have to go see a chiropractor or a doctor anymore because I’m taking care of myself. Notice that I’m not only thinking of myself. Because I am not the same man I was five years ago. I’m not the same man I was a year ago. The transformation has been real.”

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Diego Sanchez lost hist first fight under the tutelage of Joshua Fabia, giving up a decision to Michael Chiesa last year. Time will tell how he performs in his looming second fight under this offbeat coach’s leadership.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/12/2020.