Brain damage is unavoidable in any combat art, but deliberately conditioning the chin and head is different. A resurfaced 2019 training clip of Diego Sanchez blurs that line in alarming ways. The drills resemble self-inflicted harm more than practical combat training. CTE is not a punchline in combat sports.

Coach Joshua Fabia, a self-styled guru, stunned the MMA community with his bizarre methods. Fabia promoted pseudoscientific ideas that framed head trauma as something to strengthen the brain to take damage. Under his influence, Diego Sanchez embraced dangerous conditioning practices. Experts widely criticized these methods for ignoring established science on brain damage and cognitive decline.

In the clip, Sanchez hung upside down, and coach Fabia struck him with punches and kicks. This naturally drew widespread criticism that the methods were more harmful than useful. It inclined more towards abuse and manipulation than real fight preparation.

Critics have also pointed out that these drills have no scientific basis and can rather risk a serious injury.

Diego Sanchez’s career has always lived at the extremes. He fought across four weight divisions, and everyone remembers the war he had with BJ Penn. He earned a reputation for toughness more than technical skill. His association with trainer Joshua Fabia raised growing health concerns.

Initially, Sanchez had defended those unconventional methods, but after their fallout, Sanchez came out and exposed everything he went through.

“For the past 2 years, I have been running from a very traumatic experience. Words cannot even explain how traumatizing this was. It involves a very evil man that manipulated, blackmailed, extorted me and eventually put an end to my UFC career.”

UFC president Dana White publicly called Fabia an abuser, citing doubts about Sanchez’s mental state and brain trauma. These concerns contributed to Sanchez’s UFC release in 2021, closing a legendary but increasingly troubling chapter.

After leaving the UFC, Sanchez continued fighting in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Eagle FC. His post-UFC career reignited concerns about fighter safety. Medical research long warned against repeated head trauma.

A 2020 JAMA Neurology study found repeated concussions increase cognitive vulnerability, leaving athletes susceptible to long-term damage. Viewed through that lens, Sanchez’s later career seems less like resilience and more like a cautionary example of accumulated damage.

Fans alarmed as Diego Sanchez’s past drills highlight long-term brain risks

Fans are outraged, analysts are concerned, and even UFC president Dana White criticized the extreme methods Diego Sanchez endured. What looks bizarre on the surface now reads as a dangerous example of extreme coaching and its role in Sanchez’s career unraveling.

The moment sparked an avalanche of reactions online, blending sarcasm with outright alarm. Some viewers joked, “Jiri is doing this in his next camp,” while others immediately flagged the danger, writing, “That’s how you get brain damage!”

Frustration toward Diego Sanchez’s former coach followed, with one comment stating, “Dude should be in prison for how he coached Diego Sanchez.” The tone then dipped into bleak humor, as another reaction read, “bro got so much cte he has no idea he is doing more cte drills,” before one viewer captured the shared discomfort bluntly: “Who’s the person filming this snuff film?😂😭”

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Taken together, the responses reflect how the clip now registers less as absurd training and more as a disturbing reminder of where unchecked coaching can lead.

The video is almost incontrovertible evidence: a past peculiarity has now transformed into a future warning about the human price of extreme training. The UFC has indeed pointed out the great risks Sanchez took by showing, among other factors, that even talent and toughness can’t protect a fighter from suffering brain trauma completely.

Most importantly, it remains a clear sign that the acceptance of new techniques in fighting should never lead to compromising the health of the fighters in a long-term manner.