MMA Veteran Diego Sanchez just fought outside of the UFC for the first time in 16 years. Sanchez faced Kevin Lee in a super lightweight bout that was the main event of Eagle FC 46.
The fight was an action-packed back-and-forth fight between the two veterans, with Lee’s wrestling being the differential that earned him the decision victory.
Despite having lost, Sanchez looked relatively good for a 40-year-old coming back from a two-year layoff. Sanchez had a lot to overcome considering the fact that he was practically inside a cult for the better part of last 2 years.
Sanchez shared a professional relationship with his former trainer Joshua Fabia. He started working with Fabia in March of 2019. Following the meeting Diego fired his longtime coaches. Fabia quickly became his sole cornerman and his manager.
Fabia’s influence was reportedly detrimental not only to his career but to his own mental health as well. Videos of their “training sessions” went viral, like the one where their training consisted of Diego Sanchez hanging from a bar while Fabia repeatedly punched him the in the head. Fabia also convinced the fighter to start an Onlyfans account that featured questionable content.
Fast forward to Sanchez’ long anticipated MMA return. Sanchez was pleased he was given a chance to finish his MMA career properly. He reportedly has 2 more fights on his Eagle FC contract .
During his post-fight interview, Diego stated:
“I enjoyed the fight just being in there after the long layoff, and being able to get back in there with a guy like Kevin Lee was amazing.”
“Being I was out for so long, I was in the hospital with COVID I was three weeks out of the hospital when Ali [Diego’s manager] hit me up and said, “we want you!”
Sanchez then continued “I made to the fight, I wasn’t in the best shape of my career, wasn’t in the best shape of my life, but I was headstrong, I was mentally strong.”
“and I couldn’t have done it without my wife Angela and, and number one, my lord and savior Jesus Christ who is my lord and savior man he’s my everything,”
“he saved me from that whole ordeal of the last two years, what went down with me and Fabia.”
“… it’s all under the glory of Jesus Christ, I got saved and I got rescued.”
In the lead up to the fight, Sanchez did several interviews. During the interviews he declined to discus Fabia and claimed he would be sitting down with someone he trusted in the future in order to make sure the story is properly told, if he does decide to tell it.