3 coaches who had a negative impact on UFC fighters

The relationship between an MMA fighter and their head coach is imperative to their collaborative success. Kamaru Usman's recent transfer over to Trevor Wittman's ONX gym has paid dividends for him, with Wittman seemingly bringing all of Usman's natural tools and capabilities to the forefront.

However, just as a great coach-fighter partnership can achieve greatness, a bad relationship can have an incredibly negative impact. This rarely happens at the pinnacle of MMA, in the UFC. However, there have been several glaring examples.

#3 - Brock Lesnar's MMA Coaches

UFC 200: Tate v Nunes

Brock Lesnar's transition to MMA from pro wrestling was one of the biggest events to occur in MMA history. Lesnar was a physical specimen and had a huge fan base already established from his time with the WWE.

However, due to his elite status as a 'star,' Lesnar's coaching teams were more focused on keeping him happy and confident, rather than improving his skills as a mixed martial artist. Reports from inside Lesnar's gym revealed that his sparring partners were told to only spar light with him. Head shots were often not allowed at all.

Max Holloway has recently demonstrated that fight camps without hard sparring can pay dividends for a fighter. However, he has also made it clear that he had already done so much hard sparring in his youth that he has nothing to gain from any more of it.

Lesnar came into the sport with no prior experience in the striking realms of MMA. To make things worse, he was instantly matched up against some of the heavyweight division's greatest strikers, i.e. Alistair Overeem. Who knows how far Lesnar could have gone, had he been accustomed to the experience hard sparring brings.

#2 Coach Edmond Tarverdyan - Ronda Rousey

UFC 207: Nunes v Rousey

Previously given the moniker of the 'worst coach in MMA,' Edmond Tarverydyan may no longer top the list, but he is still undoubtedly up there. Tarverydyan was the head coach of former women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

The story of Rousey's rapid rise and fall from grace is well documented, and a key component of the normalization of women's MMA. Tarverydyan latched on to Rousey as soon as she began to achieve stardom, attempting to leech off second hand fame from her success.

When Rousey joined Tarverdyan's gym, she was already an accomplished judoka and grappler. This simply left Tarverdyan to fill the holes in her striking game. A task that he woefully failed at.

Not only did he fail, but he also inspired a sense of false confidence in Rousey, that she would be able to outstrike opponents such as Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. History shows how misguided this mentality was.

#1 Coach Joshua Fabia - Diego Sanchez

UFC 239 Sanchez v Chiesa

Joshua Fabia initially appeared to simply be a figure of amusement as he joined Diego Sanchez's coaching corner. An overly expressive personality who was the latest in a long line of bizarre associates for Sanchez.

But as time has gone on, Fabia's presence in Sachez's life has gone from amusing to straight-up concerning. The list of outlandish and maniacle rumors, interviews and videos surrounding Fabia's coaching is truly hard to believe.

Footage emerged of Fabia chasing Sanchez, as well as his other teammates, around an octagon with a knife in order to assist with their agility. He also claimed to have taught Sanchez a "death touch" that could kill an opponent.

Most recently, Fabia essentially caused the UFC to release Sanchez after requesting all medical documents from Sanchez's 16 year tenure with the organization be handed over. After being asked if this was due to Sanchez being medically unfit, Fabia refused to answer, forcing the UFC to cancel Sanchez's contract due to health concerns.

The only fight Sanchez won whilst working with Fabia was via opponent disqualification, after Michel Perreira inadvertently landed an illegal strike. Not only did Fabia negatively impact Sanchez as a fighter, he literally ended his career.