Sean Strickland’s own coach admits he was disappointed with ‘uninspired fighting’ at UFC 312
Sean Strickland’s longtime coach went off on his star pupil after a disappointing loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312.
Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has heard harsh critiques of his UFC 312 performance in recent days, but none arguably as significant as from his longtime coach Eric Nicksick.
Strickland’s bid at becoming a two-time UFC middleweight titleholder fell well short of the mark against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 last weekend. After infamously promising a ‘fight to the death’, Strickland struggled to push and pressure du Plessis as the fight went on, breaking his nose midway through the fight and struggling to land damaging combinations.
Strickland’s second defeat to du Plessis puts him out of the middleweight title picture until a new titleholder claims the throne. Du Plessis is expected to face Khamzat Chimaev for his next title defense later this year.
Since fight night, Strickland has drawn plenty of criticism of his performance at UFC 312, including from prominent UFC analysts.
Coach Eric Nicksick hints his time in Sean Strickland’s corner could be nearing a close
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Nicksick questioned his cornering future with Strickland after UFC 312.
“I think (Strickland) needs to evaluate what he wants to do in the sport,” Nicksick said of Strickland. “If it’s just to make money, then that’s great. Let us know. I wanna coach world champions. My motivations are different. Just to kind of show up and do that and not really back it up, to me, was just kind of uninspiring.
“It was just uninspired fighting to me. It just seemed like (Strickland) was sleepwalking. It was tough, man,” Nicksick continued. “To travel all the way (to Australia) — and let’s not forget, this is a title fight…I take these title fights very seriously. I was just disappointed, man.” (h/t MMANews)
As of this writing, Strickland hasn’t responded to Nicksick’s remarks. Later in the interview, Nicksick questioned whether or not he sees himself coaching Strickland moving forward.
“I think that’s a fair assessment that I would have to sit down with Sean and talk to him about,” Nicksick said. “Where can my services be of help for you? I think as a coach, you get credit for things you don’t do essentially as much, and you get the blame for things you do as well. So you have to be right there in the middle…
“In situations like this where your motivations might change, if that’s the case, if they’ve changed to something different. Fighting for money or a paycheck, and it’s not to be the best or a world champion, I think as a coach and fighter we should sit down and have that conversation. He’s a great teammate, great guy…but your fights aren’t to be the best in the world and they’re for money, that’s not really what I’m looking for.”
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Sean Strickland’s UFC 312 performance drew criticism from all corners of MMA
Nicksick revealed that Strickland’s performance perplexed UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who was in his corner for UFC 312 and knocked him out earlier in their careers.
Strickland earned the rematch with du Plessis by defeating Paulo Costa at UFC 302 last year. He’s now lost two of his last three fights after a quick ascent to the top of the middleweight division.
Several opponents make sense for Strickland’s next middleweight bout, including another former rival. But in the meantime, Strickland is still dealing with the aftermath of his odd showing at UFC 312.
