“To the death, Dutchman!” That’s what Sean Strickland promised to do in his rematch against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312. However, he had a very underwhelming showing in Australia, the same nation where he won the middleweight title, leading his coach Eric Nicksick to publicly criticize ‘Tarzan’ during an interview with Ariel Helwani. However, the Xtreme Couture head coach didn’t think it was the best move to make.
Sean Strickland just didn’t seem in his element at UFC 312 as he talked a big game during the buildup to his third title fight. While Dana White didn’t seem too disappointed with the way ‘Tarzan’ performed, Eric Nicksick claimed that Strickland’s showing was a bit ‘uninspiring’. But the 45-year-old veteran MMA coach admitted that he shouldn’t have done that, and in a recent interview, he revealed that he made up with the former champion shortly after the whole public criticism fiasco.
“He broke his nose. He was out for like, a few days, came in. I saw him literally like the day after the whole Ariel interview, and he’s like, ‘Yeah. Everything you said was accurate. I’m kind of being a little b*tch right now.’ And I’m like, ‘I know bro,’ and I was like, ‘I’m sorry. The timing was bad on my part,”
Sean Strickland’s coach told Tim Welch on the latter’s YouTube channel.
Despite claiming that he made a miscalculated move during the interview with Ariel Helwani, Eric Nicksick wanted Sean Strickland to take responsibility for what went down in the fight against Dricus du Plessis. However, talking about it during an interview immediately after his loss wasn’t the wisest thing he’s ever done since their relationship has transcended from a fight-coach one to friendship. “‘I love you too much to leave you the way that you are,’ right? Like, I got to tell you, man. You want me to lie and tell Ariel or whatever? I should have just never done the interview. That was it,” Nicksick further stated.
UFC 312 SYDNEY, Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa R, punches Sean Strickland of United States during in their middleweight title bout UFC 312 event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Sunday, February 9, 2025. ACHTUNG: NUR REDAKTIONELLE NUTZUNG, KEINE ARCHIVIERUNG UND KEINE BUCHNUTZUNG SYDNEY NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xMARKxEVANSx 20250209197108759746
In the meantime, Eric Nicksick claims to have learned an important lesson while dishing out critical words about Sean Strickland’s recent performance. He mentioned that it has never happened again, and the drama that ensued after he did that following UFC 312 has only made him realize not to publicly disparage his fighters ever again. However, Nicksick wanted to teach Strickland a lesson in a way that only Strickland understands, which is by being as vocal as he can about his displeasure with the ex-champ’s performance.
“There was a lot of good that came out of it for me. I learned a lot more about, you know. Okay, this probably wasn’t the right timing. I was trying to coach Sean through media rather than through face-to-face, which I thought was a different approach because I’ve never done it before,” Nicksick added. “But Sean has always been vocal about other fighters, other coaches through the media. So, in a lot of ways, in my mind, I was like, well, I’m going to give him a little bit of a taste of his own medicine in a way, but I was being respectful.”
Well, things may have been a bit too hot between Eric Nicksick and Sean Strickland, but things have gotten better between the two because of the heat of the moment. Let’s hear what the coach had to say about that.
Eric Nicksick claims he hugged Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland has been associated with Eric Nicksick and Xtreme Couture for well over a decade, and there’s no doubt that they’ve developed a strong bond with each other. As Eric Nicksick already mentioned getting on good terms with the former champion, he also mentioned that the week after he lost his UFC 312, and a few days after criticizing Strickland, they met up with each other and hugged it out, solidifying the fact that there are no issues between the two.
“I saw him in person that same Thursday, we hugged, and high-fived. I’m going out snowboarding, we had a good conversation, so as far as I’m concerned, everything’s good on our end,” Eric Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “Everyone in the gym that knows me, Sean included, knew where my heart was and knew where my head was and the point that I was trying to get across.”
Meanwhile, Sean Strickland is yet to say anything about Eric Nicksick and the possibility of his coach cornering him again in his future fight. While that remains to be seen, and it will also be interesting to see if he can find his way back into title contention after a lackluster performance at UFC 312. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post “You Want Me to Lie” – Sean Strickland’s Coach Comes Clean on Giving Him a ‘Taste of His Own Medicine’ After UFC 312 Loss appeared first on EssentiallySports.
