Media Stricklands head coach disappointed in Sean - sides with his critics

[Unheralded Truth]

Eric Nicksick, the head coach at Xtreme Couture openly criticizes Strickland's showing, calling it "uninspired fighting."

"It just seemed like he was sleepwalking," Nicksick says on the Ariel Helwani Show. "This was tough, man. I was just trying to dig him out of it through the rounds. I didn't know if he was trying to collect data in the beginning, or if it was just a generally slow start, or what was going on. But as the rounds began to progress, I could tell how it just didn't feel like he was in it - the way most of the times he is."

"It was a tough 25 minutes. To travel all the way out there... and let's not forget, this is a title fight. I take these title fights very seriously. I don't know. I was just disappointed, man. I was disappointed with it all, the entire outcome, the whole fight as a process. I thought it was just kind of flat."

Several people, including UFC broadcaster Din Thomas and former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, have criticized Strickland since the fight. And Nicksick believes this criticism is warranted.

"We have to be real: It just was a very underwhelming performance in an opportunity to fight for the title, where there's people in this sport that never even realize that potential to ever even be in an opportunity to fight for a championship. That should be enough to get you motivated, to get you off the couch. It just, to me, was... we didn't perform."

"It's on all of us. It's on me as a coaching staff, it's on Sean."

Nicksick adds that the 33-year-old former champion, who's lost two of his last three fights and is outside the title picture, needs to consider his goals moving forward.

"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 for you - let us know. I want to coach world champions though. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that, and not really back things up - just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

his coach seems like a cool guy, didn't make any staph excuses and even said the staph didn't affect the final weeks of fight camp or strickland's cardio.

 

[Chaotic Progressor]

Yeah tend to agree. Didn't really show up. What happened to the war n shit...

He seemed too happy n goofy lately, what's happened to him, maybe he went n took ayahuasca with Wilder.

 

[KID Yamamoto]

"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 for you - let us know. I want to coach world champions though. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that, and not really back things up - just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."

Ironic coming from the guy who helped coach Francis into getting slaughtered by AJ.

 

[Pechan]

Nobody likes a loser.

 

[Oscar Madison]

A poor Craftsman blames his


Weak Nicksick -- very weak...

 

[Portland8242]

"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 for you - let us know. I want to coach world champions though. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that, and not really back things up - just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."

is it just me or is this basically telling Sean that he needs to be more coach-able or else he's not welcome at the gym anymore?

Very interesting.

 

[wlu.29]

"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 for you - let us know. I want to coach world champions though. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that, and not really back things up - just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."

Ironic coming from the guy who helped coach Francis into getting slaughtered by AJ.

Skills gap is different from a lack of heart and fight

 

[Portland8242]

I owe Nicksick an apology for my thread earlier in the week, turns out it's 100% Strickland.

Yeah pretty candid statements by his standards. And you could tell in the corner he was getting angrier each round with nothing changing.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

"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 for you - let us know. I want to coach world champions though. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that, and not really back things up - just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."

Ironic coming from the guy who helped coach Francis into getting slaughtered by AJ.

did he coach him during those camps? Francis got a different boxing coach and worked mostly with dewey cooper, eric said he showed up in the final 2 weeks to just be there for him as a friend, not as a coach. There's not much eric could help francis with in terms of boxing anyway lol

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Nicksick should tell Bubba Ray to get the tables, imo

 

[linvillegorge]

I said it during the play by play thread on fight night

Post in thread 'Strickland is the most boring, one-dimensional fighter'

Saturday at 10:26 PM

His coaches have to get so frustrated. When the guy throws he has success. Then you have Bispingtalking about how good his BJJ is but he just wants to plod forward occasionally flicking jabs. He's just not using his tools on offense. It's bizarre.

• linvillegorge

• 

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Yeah pretty candid statements by his standards. And you could tell in the corner he was getting angrier each round with nothing changing.

I agree, usually coaches don't try to come out publicly against their fighters. I accidently deleted the post you quoted with my fat fingers.

 

[Dr Fong]

It must be genuinely embarrassing to have to publicly associate with Strickland.

And Nicksick has also said in the past that Strickland just doesn't listen to basic instructions, so this isn't a new thing.

If you've got a guy who is a complete piece of shit that makes you all look like fools and doesn't listen to you on top of it, a good old bus throwing is warranted.

 

[JustOnce]

Imagine talking so much shit and acting like the toughest guy around but fights so much like a p*ssy that even your corner comes out saying that about you after the fight.

The most embarrassing display in the championship fight ever. Even Megan Anderson of all people tried and got finished early.

I'd say there's an argument to be made that it was the most shameful display in a fight ever, given the shit he says.

 

[TheGreatA]

Maybe they should train him to have more tools than a jab and a teep kick.

 

[Daniel Henry]

So in the past 7 days Strikland has been shitted on by a entire country via thier media

Got his nose broke

Shitted on by fans

Shitted on by his coach

I'm sure he's a good dude though

 

[Arm Barbarian]

As a Strickland fan, I was definitely disappointed in his performance. He looked exactly like a guy who was just there to collect a paycheck, and didn't give a F about actually winning. He literally sat back and did nothing for most of the fight. Even his jab was rarely thrown. It was an extra uninspired effort from Sean, who is usually on the boring side to begin with.

But the good news is, Dricus stepped up and has some decent fights on the horizon.

 

[AmonTobin]

I'm pretty sure Dricus is disappointed in Sean performance as well.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Reminded me of Anderson vs Maia