“I want to coach world champions, so my motivations are different.”, – words of a coach frustrated with his fighter. These were the words of Xtreme Couture coach Erik Nicksick about Sean Strickland, after losing his title rematch against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312. Nicksick’s frustration was palpable as his disappointment was quite visible on fight day. Not just that, he jokingly alluded to not being able to coach Strickland, suggesting ‘Tarzan’ doesn’t listen to his corner, in an interview with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting on SBN. So it was no surprise when Nicksick expressed disappointment in Strickland’s UFC 312 performance. Amid all of this, Daniel Cormier gave his two cents on why Nicksick might have been in the wrong on this one.
Taking to his YouTube talk show Daniel Cormier TV, DC suggested that it wasn’t right for Erik Nicksick to put so much pressure on Sean Strickland. He said, “Not everybody is gonna be a world champ. You don’t get to coach all world champs. You coach world champions, you coach guys that might get to the contender series and lose. I get the thought of what he’s saying. Any great coach would have words for their athlete.” Cormier recalled how he noticed Nicksick’s frustration on fight day.
DC observed that the relationship between the coach and mentor might have been so strained that it was on display for all the world to see, at least from Nicksick’s part. Even Strickland revealed that the training camp was hell. And DC pointed out that if that was true, he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Furthermore, Cormier questioned fans who suggested that Strickland is a quitter. He said, “I don’t think he quit. He could have quit and I don’t think nobody would have blamed him. Would you guys have judged him less harshly if he walked away when he broke his nose? No! You would have called him a quitter. So him staying in there and continuing to fight with the busted nose doesn’t earn any good favor? He was losing!”
Well, Nicksick believed that Sean Strickland needed to evaluate his expectations from the sport. Whether it’s fighting for money, or legacy, ‘Tarzan’ needs to be crystal clear about defining his goals in the sport. But calling his performance ‘uninspiring’ is a bit too much, at least according to Daniel Cormier. But what did the former middleweight champion himself have to say about his relationship with his now-former head coach?
Sean Strickland gets ready to fight without Eric Nicksick in his corner
Of course, Strickland was hurt by the coach’s comments. He had to issue a public response and took to Instagram to do so. In the video, he said, “I like Eric. He’s a friend of mine. He’s going to continue to be a friend of mine. Will he probably be in my corner? Probably not.” But will that hamper the Californian mixed martial artist’s future endeavors? The former middleweight champ doesn’t think so.
The team had fighters like Chris Curtis, Forrest Griffin, Francis Ngannou, and many others. Any one of them can corner Strickland now. He continued, “But that entire fight camp was just a struggle. It was a f—– struggle, and we all have excuses as to why we didn’t win, or why we won or we shouldn’t have won. We all f—– have excuses, and they don’t f—– matter.”
Now, Strickland might not get back into the title picture any time soon. But the way he kept pushing forward despite getting his nose broken at six different spots received quite some praise from the fighting world. It’s his resilience and never-back-down approach that proved to be a saving grace for ‘Strickland’ in a losing battle. Safe to say that with the pressure of fighting for a world title not being on his shoulders, Strickland can focus on what he does best – fighting for a huge payday.
What are your thoughts on Nicksick’s comments about Strickland’s loss? Do you think ‘Tarzan’ did the right thing by choosing to get someone else to corner him in his future fights? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post “He Could Have Quit”- Daniel Cormier Points Out Eric Nicksick’s Mistake With Sean Strickland at UFC 312 appeared first on EssentiallySports.