Diego Sanchez threw fight against Michael Chiesa at UFC 239, claims Joshua Fabia

Joshua Fabia, the former manager of MMA veteran Diego Sanchez, claims that the UFC legend threw his fight against Michael Chiesa at UFC 239.

Sanchez lost a lopsided unanimous decision to Chiesa that night, but according to his former manager Fabia, the loss was in part because he was forced to throw the fight. Speaking to the “Behind the Scenes with Summer Helene” podcast, Fabia claimed that Sanchez was forced to throw the fight because, according to Fabia, the Nevada State Athletic Commission spoke to Sanchez and got into his head 30 minutes before the fight.

“So, this moment happens where the Nevada State Athletic Commission comes in and leans on Diego, and he has to throw a f*cking fight. Now, I have them recorded. You go watch the fight, and it’s the only fight in Diego Sanchez’s history that he never threw a punch. The way that they did it, is in the lean, which is in talking to somebody and dangling their license and explaining, ‘Are you really trying to hurt this man? You’re not trying to hurt him, are you Diego? You’re a sportsman, Diego. You’ve always been a good guy, Diego. You’re not gonna do anything with malicious intent, are you Diego?’ You can call that the way you call it, but the Nevada State Commission is not supposed to come in 30 minutes before a f*cking fight, and come and kick everybody out, and come and talk that type of shit to a fighter and get in their head,” Fabia said about Sanchez (h/t Milan Ordonez of BloodyElbow.com).

“Then on top of it, the last time Diego was a “sportsman,” he was a wrestler. So the first thing he comes out and does is goes and takes this guy’s leg. And he never throws a punch. So, you tell me. How come my fighter that’s been training for ten weeks to strike didn’t throw a strike?”

What do you think of these accusations that Joshua Fabia made against Diego Sanchez about the Michael Chiesa fight at UFC 239?