New Delhi: Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland has faced a lot of criticism for his recent performance against Dricus du Plessis at the UFC 312. His long-time coach Eric Nicksick also criticised him for his poor show at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
His aim to become a two-time UFC middleweight champion fell well short against South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312. Strickland infamously promised a fight to the death but struggled to put pressure on the du Plessis as the fight continued and Du Plessis broke his nose midway through the fight.
Strickland also struggled to land damaging combinations against Du Plessis and faced his second defeat against the South African. This loss puts him out of the middleweight title while Du Plessis is expected to face Khamzat Chimaev for his next title defense later this year. After the fight, Strickland has faced plenty of criticism for his performance at UFC 312, including from many famous UFC analysts.
‘My motivations are different’: Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Nicksick said that Stickland needs to evaluate what he wants to do in the sport and if he just wants to make money then he should let his team know that.
“I wanna coach world champions. My motivations are different. Just to kind of show up and do that and not really back it up, to me, was just kind of uninspiring. It was just uninspired fighting to me. It just seemed like he was sleepwalking. It was tough, man. To travel all the way (to Australia) — and let’s not forget, this is a title fight…I take these title fights very seriously. I was just disappointed, man” Nicksick said on The Ariel Helwani Show.
Nicksick further said that he would talk to Strickland about his future and offer him help. He also said that Strickland is a great teammate and also a great guy and as a coach and fighter they should sit down and have that conversation.
Sean Strickland’s longtime coach Eric Nicksick criticised him for the uninspired fighting against Dricus Du Plessis at the UFC 312. UFC Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
