Diego Sanchez’s choice to continue working with controversial coach Joshua Fabia has been a hot button issue of late. One of the latest fighters to chime in on the topic is UFC welterweight James Krause, who would love to test himself against Sanchez in the Octagon.
“There’s a couple of different routes I could go,” Krause told MMA Junkie with regards to his next fight. “I feel like the two routes are like fighting some legends of this sport. A couple of names come to mind like Diego Sanchez, Carlos Condit. I have a thing for Diego for some reason. I can’t stand his coach (Joshua Fabia). I feel like they’re selling wolf tickets to the sport of MMA, to the fans of MMA.
“Just some of that stuff, that guy says is ridiculous to me,” Krause added. “I just can’t seem to get behind it, and I think he’s got Diego manipulated, and I think – I’m not a fan of the man. You have to put some real work into this sport to become a coach of a high-level athlete, and I feel like this guy has short-cut that and hasn’t done those things.”
Fabia serves as Sanchez’s head coach, manager, nutritionist, and lots more. Krause suspects that Sanchez has mistaken somebody who might be a good “motivator” for somebody capable of running his entire fight career.
“There’s a difference between a motivator and a coach,” Krause said of Fabia. “If you need motivation to fight at this level, you’re probably not in the right place. Is he a good motivator? I’m not sure, maybe he is. At the end of the day, it takes more than motivation to win at this level, and I just think he’s a master manipulator, and he’s got somebody like Diego, who’s got some real skills, and I think he’s holding him back because of it. And there’s no shortcuts in this sport, and it’s really hard for me to respect somebody that tries to shortcut the process to get to the high level especially in coaching, especially coaching high-level athletes.”
Are you with James Krause on this one? Should Diego Sanchez consider changing coaches?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/11/2020.