‘Ditch him’: McGregor weighs in after footage shows UFC legend Sanchez upside down and being struck by coach Fabia (VIDEO)

UFC legend Conor McGregor has blasted oddball coach Joshua Fabia, after scenes of him hitting Diego Sanchez upside down and hung as a punchbag in training shocked the MMA community when footage emerged circulated online.

The controversial clip was put on the internet Friday evening, and though the original YouTube footage was taken down, some users had already managed to capture and re-uploaded it across various platforms. 

Tied upside down, Sanchez, who was recently released by the UFC amid a row over access to medical records, takes a series of unprotected head blows and is later seen blindfolded in a boxing ring while Fabia whips him with a black belt. 

Beginning by saying "Pardon my French" before asking "what the f**k is this?!?", EPSN MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed how he had "elected to bite my tongue on this whole thing because Fabia sent me a series of disturbing texts last year" as part of "non-sensical and unnecessary drama".

"But man," he continued.

"How can anyone stay quiet about this activity? Downright disturbing."

Still this was tame compared to the furious tirade that former two-time champion Conor McGregor embarked upon. 

In a series of now-deleted tweets, 'The Notorious' wrote: "This is just madness! I’ll break this thing's nose in half."

"This not the move Diego, my bro," he addressed his friend.

"I've been with you the whole way, and still am. But this is not on. It was unfair treatment by commentary and fans on your last performance in my opinion, for sure," he conceded, of a unanimous decision loss to Jake Matthews at UFC 253 last September.

"But not on this guy, 0-0. Ditch [him]," McGregor advised.

"I’m actually on the side of body hardening work also. Work the body etc," McGregor went on.

"But doing it hanging upside down, and getting the dome of the head struck repeatedly, while covering vision, is preposterous!"

"Grab this guy by the ears and head butt him at his front door first thing [in the morning]," McGregor seethed.

"I watched the engagement with the broadcast team with an open minded judgement and an understanding that there was disrespectful comments made against you. You were right to pull this up.

"But the other guy took over the convo. Made it all about him. This is not his story, Diego. Box his nose in and ditch him," he concluded.

Taking to Twitter for the first time since January, Fabia defended himself by claiming to be a better coach than McGregor's John Kavanagh.

He also highlighted that McGregor has been finished twice in his last three fights, and Sanchez, under his tutelage, not a single one.

Attempting to wind up McGregor further, he posted a photo of Sanchez and Mac's former octagon rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, and claimed that the Russian had joined Fabia's "school of self awareness".

These developments are the latest in a string of worrying incidents involving Sanchez and his coach. 

In recent weeks, the 39-year-old was released by the UFC after the fight league became concerned by his failure to adequately respond to concerns about his physical and mental health.

Additionally, there were also fears that Sanchez's mentor, whom Dana White has referred to as a "f*cking nutjob", has been having a negative influence on the veteran.

On Tuesday, Sanchez appeared on the Sirius XM's MMA Today show, and accused the UFC of conspiring against him – and even suggested that the world's leading mixed martial arts promotion might kill him due to his outspoken stance.

"I’m going to tell you guys frankly right now, I’m fearful for my motherf*cking life," Sanchez admitted.

"I’m fearful that this company, this billion-dollar company monopoly, worldwide, is going to come after me. Something might happen to me in two years. Maybe in a couple of years.

"Maybe I wreck my truck. Maybe, ‘Oh, Diego overdosed, some suicide sh*t.’ I don’t know. But I would not put anything past the level of evil that is within this corporation.

"If I was to expose some of the stuff that I know about, [I could], because I’ve been in this motherf*cker longer than anybody else, and been the only one that survived the b*tch, that went through the dark tunnel and came out the other side," he added.

Sanchez later revealing that he has tried to meet White to discuss his dismissal, he and Fabia are now further than ever to a return to the championship with their latest public display.