The head coach of Xtreme Couture, Eric Nicksick, has praised Sean Strickland for staying true to himself and being a good teammate.
On September 9, Sean Strickland shocked the world by securing a unanimous decision win against Israel Adesanya to become the new UFC middleweight champion. Since then, Strickland’s fanbase and social media following have skyrocketed, adding attention to his brutally honest opinions.
Strickland has gained a reputation for being a controversial and unpredictable person. Yet, the people who encounter the UFC middleweight champion daily, like his head coach, Eric Nicksick, have a different narrative about what type of person he is.
During an appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST with Rampage Jackson, Nicksick praised Strickland by saying this:
“Sean [Strickland] is such an interesting guy in the regards of I feel like he’s a breath of fresh air in this day in age because of his realness. He’s not gonna talk sh*t behind your back, he’s gonna say it to your face. He’s gonna wear his emotions on his sleeves. When he says something and as far as the way he represents himself, they tried to give him a new $100,000 truck, he said, ‘Nah, that’s not who I am and what I want to represent…’”
Watch Eric Nicksick’s entire appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST below:
Eric Nicksick labels Sean Strickland as “one of the best teammates you’re ever going to find”
Sean Strickland has also gained a reputation for being a questionable training partner after multiple videos of him beating up people in sparring went viral. Meanwhile, Eric Nicksick shut down those claims by detailing what makes Strickland a high-quality teammate.
Nicksick had this to say during the previously mentioned podcast appearance:
“He’s one of the best teammates you’re ever going to find…He’s gone hard with people [in sparring sessions], but it’s been a gentleman’s agreement on how hard we’re going to spar today. This dude wins the world title, takes a week off, and comes back because this guy has a fight, this guy has a fight, this guy has a fight… I come in Monday, he’s mopping the mats. The mats were dirty. This guy is a world champion right now. Does he tell somebody to go mop the mats? Nope.”
On January 20, 2024, Sean Strickland returns to action with plans to defend his UFC middleweight title for the first time. It’ll be easier said than done, as he faces Dricus Du Plessis (6-0 UFC record) in the UFC 297 main event, which goes down inside the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
