Michael Chiesa responds after Coach Fabia reveals plans for ‘death choke’ at UFC 239

Michael Chiesa has issued a response after claims from Diego Sanchez’s coach Joshua Fabia that they had plans for a ‘death choke’ at UFC 239.

Chiesa and Sanchez went toe to toe during International Fight Week back in July 2019 with the former coming out on top in a fairly lopsided unanimous decision victory. Alas, even though Chiesa has gone on to also beat Rafael dos Anjos, there’s a whole lot more attention on Sanchez right now following his controversial DQ win at UFC Rio Rancho last weekend.

The situation went from amusing to utterly baffling recently when it was revealed that Sanchez and his coach Joshua Fabia were planning a “death choke” ahead of the fight against Chiesa, forcing officials to intervene.

As many fans know, the legendary Sanchez is now being coached by a man that seems to identify as more of a mystical guru than an actual trainer.

When asked about the “death choke” by MMA Junkie, Chiesa had the following to say.

“We’re in the back, and the antics are already going on through fight week, so I’m obviously assuming things are going to be a little weird on fight night – not this bad,” Chiesa said. “It kind of started when Don House came and wrapped my hands, and he was just kind of laughing. He was like, ‘Man, he’s being a wild man back there,’ not really giving me details, but I’m already catching wind that things are kind of weird in the locker room. Then the person that I’m not going to name came to me and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to tell you, there’s talks of this crazy submission that he wants to try on you.’”

“I got a demonstration of what it was, and I mean, I immediately started laughing,” Chiesa added. “I was like, ‘If you think for a second you’re going to like reverse ‘Stone Cold Stunner’ me in a high-level mixed martial arts contest, you’re off your (expletive) rocker – pardon my language. But yeah, I knew what the move was.

“It was like if he had my chin, and his chest was on the back of my head like a guy would go for a guillotine, and it was like he was going to rotate and turn his back to me while still holding my chin, basically putting the back of my neck on his shoulder, and drop down,” Chiesa concluded. “We started laughing. We’re like, ‘This is so funny.’”

What do you think of this response from Michael Chiesa?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/20/2020.