Sean Strickland and his longtime coach Eric Nicksick may still be working together, but the relationship between the two remains far from perfect ahead of UFC 328.
Strickland is set to challenge Khamzat Chimaev for the UFC middleweight title this Saturday in a grudge match that has been brewing for months. The two fighters already know each other well after previously training together at Xtreme Couture under Nicksick.
The tension between Strickland and Nicksick has also played out publicly over the last few years. Nicksick previously criticized Strickland for discussing past sparring sessions with Chimaev and later blasted his performance in the rematch loss to Dricus du Plessis, calling it “uninspired fighting.”
That fallout led to Strickland briefly cutting ties with his coach before eventually bringing him back into his corner earlier this year.
Even with the reconciliation, Strickland admitted their relationship still has its complications heading into UFC 328.
“Me and Eric have a mixed relationship where it’s like, I’ll say this tactfully, if you’ve never fought or been in the gym, you don’t have an understanding,” Strickland said during a UFC 328 media scrum.
“Eric is a good coach, he’s a good striking coach but if you’ve never fought, you just don’t understand.”
Nicksick never competed professionally in MMA, instead transitioning into coaching after his college football career. While Strickland respects his coaching ability, he believes there are certain things only fighters truly understand inside a camp.
Strickland also revealed that part of the tension came from him hiding a serious injury before his title fight against Du Plessis at UFC 312.
“I don’t really talk much, I don’t tell my problems to people so I think Eric felt a little upset that I was going into a title fight with a broken arm and he had no knowledge of it,” Strickland explained.
The former middleweight champion suffered further damage during that fight after Du Plessis broke his nose in brutal fashion en route to a dominant win.
Now, Strickland looks to bounce back in the biggest fight of his career against Chimaev. Despite the rocky moments between fighter and coach, Nicksick could still play a major role if Strickland manages to reclaim UFC gold.
With bad blood already fueling the rivalry between Strickland and Chimaev, UFC 328 could finally settle one of the division’s most personal feuds inside the Octagon.
