Strickland says Nicksick unlikely to corner him after criticizing loss
Sean Strickland doesn't expect to have Eric Nicksick in his corner moving forward.
The former UFC middleweight champion said Wednesday he'll likely move on from the Xtreme Couture head coach as one of his cornermen after Nicksick criticized Strickland's performance against Dricus Du Plessis earlier this week.
"I like Eric. He's a friend of mine. And he's gonna continue to be a friend of mine," Strickland said in a video posted to X. "Will he probably be in my corner? Probably not.
"We have so many great guys at Xtreme. ... We have so many savages that would love to corner me."
Strickland suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss in a rematch with Du Plessis, the current 185-pound champion, at UFC 312 last weekend in Sydney, Australia. Strickland dropped a narrow split decision in his first fight against Du Plessis in January 2024.
Nicksick was critical of Strickland's most recent showing during a Tuesday appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show," calling it "very underwhelming" and "flat."
"I think (Strickland) needs to evaluate what he wants to do in this sport," Nicksick said. "If it's just to make money, then that's great - let us know. I want to coach world champions. My motivations are different. I think that just to kind of show up and do that and not really back it up, just, to me, was kind of uninspiring."
Strickland revealed Wednesday he faced numerous hurdles in the lead-up to UFC 312. He said he broke his arm during training camp and received stem cells in Colombia seven or eight weeks before the event. Strickland said he also developed a staph infection ahead of the fight.
"That entire fight camp was just a struggle," Strickland said.
He added: "This is not an excuse, but that entire camp was just a struggle of, 'I'm good, I'm good,' knowing you're not good. ... (The) bone healed fine, not an excuse, it just kind of weighs in the back of your head."
Strickland, 33, has now lost two of his last three fights and sits outside the title conversation. However, the Las Vegas resident - who pulled off an all-time upset against Israel Adesanya in 2023 to win the middleweight title - is adamant he still wants to compete.
"I don't fight to put belts on the wall," Strickland said. "I don't f-----g fight because Eric wants to go do a fancy podcast. That's not why I fight. ... I f-----g love it. I got a lot of fights left on my contract. I love fighting. I'm going back to the gym, I'm working my ass off, and I'm starting from f-----g square one.
"And that's just kind of how life is. You always get a setback, where you're like, 'All right, well, I gotta start over again.' And you have a choice: you either sack up and you do it, or you f-----g quit. And I'm gonna sack up and do it."