Dana White has no desire to engage in a feud with Diego Sanchez and his coach/manager, Joshua Fabia.
Sadly, Diego Sanchez’s 16-year-run with the UFC did not end gracefully. The first-ever winner of The Ultimate Fighter had a falling out with the promotion after he and his manager Joshua Fabia were not granted access to his career-long medical records. From the UFC’s point of view, the falling out was more a matter of Sanchez and his camp failing to assure them that he was healthy enough to compete against Donald Cerrone at UFC Vegas 26.
Either way, there’s no question that things turned ugly after Fabia leaked a private phone call with UFC Executive Vice President Hunter Campbell and then later accused White and UFC matchmakers of having improper relations with female talent.
Dana White Weighs In On Latest Developments From Sanchez/Fabia
Prior to these actions from Fabia, White had labeled the manager as being “batshit crazy.” After a video surfaced of Fabia and Sanchez engaged in what we’ll call highly unorthodox training practices, many people were inclined to agree with White’s assessment. In the video, Sanchez is seen hanging upside down as a makeshift punching/kicking bag for Fabia, and much of the MMA community was disturbed by what they saw, including names like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor.
Sitting down with ESPN, White was asked about the video and about the Sanchez/Fabia relationship in general. The UFC President chose to take about as high a road as could be expected given the circumstances.
“Unfortunately, all these guys and girls are grown men and women and can do whatever they want,” White said. “And all of us, I mean, everybody, there’s all these paths that we can choose to walk down in life, and Diego has chosen his path, and I wish him luck…
“Listen, the whole thing is nutty,” White continued. “I’ve been in this game for a very, very long time, and I’ve seen this movie, and I know how this movie ends. And it’s actually a sad story. But he’s a grown man. He can do whatever he wants to do. He’s ‘free’ like they put it. He can do whatever he wants to do. They can say whatever they wanna say, and good luck to ’em.”
Dana White also responded to Sanchez’s claims that he was unable to secure a meeting with him. White states that this is untrue and that he was always a phone call or text message away. He also addressed another claim from Sanchez about being left behind at an airport to which White responded that he apologized profusely for the incident in question.
Given some of White’s feuds over the years with fighters who have come after him, his restraint regarding Sanchez might be a demonstration of the disappointment the UFC boss feels about how this 16-year relationship ended and the path Sanchez has chosen to travel on his way out.
What are your thoughts on Dana White’s comments on the state of Diego Sanchez?
