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Why Sean Strickland’s Coach Walked Back Public Criticism of UFC Star

By Admin / February 20, 2025

In the main event of UFC 312, Sean Strickland was outclassed and outfought by reigning UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis for five whole rounds. The outspoken and wild Strickland lost every single round of the fight on two out of the three judges’ scorecards and despite yet again promising an all-action war to the fans and his opponent, he produced another pretty lackluster performance which has become common for him in his last few fights.

Just days after UFC 312, Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, publicly criticised his fighter’s performance, calling it “uninspired fighting,” and even at one point suggested that Strickland should reevaluate training under him as his priorities may lie elsewhere.

To no surprise, Nicksick’s comments did not go down well in the MMA world among fighters as well as Strickland himself, who responded to him in public. Now that the dust has settled, and we are now over a week removed from the fight, Nicksick has walked back on his criticism of Strickland and believes he “should’ve known better” than to publicly bash him after a difficult loss.

UFC_Alex Pereira_

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Sean Strickland’s Coach Regrets Publicly Bashing his Mindset at UFC 312

Nicksick admits that his “wording was piss poor”

Despite UFC 312 being a good event with some great fights, the biggest talking point coming out of the UFC’s second pay-per-view event of the year was Sean Strickland’s lackluster performance and his coach, Eric Nicksick’s criticism of his fighter.

Just days after UFC 312, Nicksick appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and instead of giving the typical coach’s response to one of their fighters losing, Nicksick made his feelings very clear, and he went on a very public tirade to bashing not only Strickland’s performance inside the Octagon, but his mindset leading into the fight.

Nicksick said the following on The Ariel Helwani Show after UFC 312:

“I think he needs to evaluate what he wants to do in this sport. If it’s just to make money, then that’s great. Let us know. I want to coach world champions, so my motivations are different.”

Nicksick’s comments publicly bashing Strickland were met with criticism from not just Strickland himself, but other fighters and MMA analysts. Now that the dust has settled coming out of UFC 312, Nicksick has gone back on his comments specifically criticising Strickland’s mindset, as he revealed just shortly before appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, that he and Strickland had a conversation about his mindset coming into the fight.

Nicksick said the following on the Verse Us podcast:

“I should’ve known better. I took that energy and had to process that while I go on Ariel’s show. I f****d up. I f****d up. I made a miscalculation in that moment in ever accepting to go on the show. My wording was piss poor. What I said was accurate, about the fight was uninspiring. We all know Sean. That is not how Sean fights. What I said was accurate. Am I to shoulder some of that blame? A hundred per cent. I said that, as a staff, it’s on us.”

It will be interesting to see if Strickland responds to Nicksick’s latest comments as in response to his appearance last week on The Ariel Helwani Show, the former UFC middleweight champion claimed that Nicksick would not be in his corner for his upcoming fights due to his comments.

Sean Strickland’s professional MMA record (as of 19/02/25)

36 Fights

29 Wins

7 Losses

By Knockout

11

2

By Submission

4

0

By Decision

14

5
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