Sean Strickland was heavily scrutinized after his loss at UFC 312, but his coach has decided to retract his comments about the title challenger.
The former UFC middleweight champion was completely outclassed against Dricus Du Plessis last time out. Following their razor-close first fight last year, the South African made sure there was no doubt who won this time around as he cruised his way to a unanimous decision victory.
In the qqaftermath of UFC 312, an emotional Eric Nicksick made some comments referencing Sean Strickland’s ‘uninspiring’ performance and later shed doubt on working with him in the future.
Having days to reflect on his comments toward Strickland, Nicksick has backtracked his statement and admitted to making a mistake.
“I don’t even consider it a fallout,” Nicksick said. “I think it was just something I needed. I made a calculated mistake.”
“We’ll talk about that and my thought process in what went on. But it was something I felt I really needed because it showed me a lot about people.”
“It made me learn about what I need to do better. There was a lot, bro. Dude, I came out of this going, ‘OK, here’s where I can be a better person, a better coach, a better friend, a better mentor.’ All these other things.”
“But it also showed me who is in my corner.”
Related: UFC fighters react to Sean Strickland’s broken nose, Dricus Du Plessis win
Nicksick continued, blaming himself for speaking about Strickland while surviving off little rest.
“I made a mistake by accepting the invitation to go on at the timing of where I was at.”
“I think people need to understand, you’re coming off 25 hours of travel, 19-hour time difference, I’m at the gym on Tuesday, half awake.”
“I should’ve just said, ‘Hey man, not a good time.’ That’s where I f***ed up. I should’ve never done [the interview].”
Listen to Eric Nicksick discuss the Sean Strickland situation below.
