UFC veteran Diego Sanchez has opened up about the intimidation and abuse he suffered at the hands of his former guru and coach, Joshua Fabia. Sanchez revealed upsetting details through leaked videos and direct messages that paint a picture of Fabia’s narcissistic and controlling behavior.
In one video, Fabia can be heard threatening Sanchez and demanding he write a $100,000 check, stating “You’re gonna write a check to me and School itself for $100,000 as I told you. This is the case when this happens because you’ve robbed me of everything.”
Fabia’s intimidation tactics didn’t stop there, with Sanchez leaking DMs in which Fabia threatened his life, saying “I will show you the home videos of you showing screenshots. That’s what you call a rat boy. You want to say I am dumb. You will see how dumb we are.”
Perhaps most disturbingly, Sanchez disclosed details of physical abuse he endured from Fabia, including being “locked outside in sub-zero weather, having cold water poured over his body, and being whipped with an actual whip and animal claws scraping his back.” Sanchez stated that Fabia would “make me sleep on the floor for 4 months” and used “psychedelic manipulation” to instill a fear that Fabia would “kill me or hurt my family.”
The leaked footage and messages reveal the extent of Fabia’s controlling ways and how he isolated Sanchez from his own family, with Fabia raging that Sanchez’s own mother “doesn’t even know who I am, can’t say a positive word.” Fabia’s toxic influence over Sanchez ultimately led the fighter to sever ties with his long-time promotion, the UFC.
While Sanchez has now cut ties with Fabia, the psychological and physical scars appear to remain.
The MMA community has widely condemned Fabia’s actions as those of a narcissistic abuser taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable position. Sanchez’s candid revelations serve as a warning about the dangers of life coaches and gurus exploiting their influence over clients.