- Sean Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick talked about Dricus Du Plessis and Isreal Adesanya
- Nicksick would love to make “Tarzan” a backup fighter
Coach Eric Nicksick weighed in on Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya and is down to make Sean Strickland a backup fighter.
Eric on DDP vs. Izzy
Speaking to Submission Radio, Nicksick discussed his thoughts on the rumored title fight between “Stillknocks” and Izzy. For Nicksick, Du Plessis has been “underestimated” all this time but far from what people think of him. Nicksick revealed that he and DDP used to talk and he could tell that DDP has what it takes to be a winner.
“Flip a coin. I think a lot of people, myself included, were dismissing Dricus for the Robert Whittaker fight. I was not dismissing him when we fought him because I saw what he’s capable of and I sat down and Dricus and I, we talked, man. He’s cool. I like the guy. I think he’s earned his right to be the champion, he’s very smart, his growth, his maturation, what he’s become, in a lot of ways, man, I’m happy for him, and I think he’s starting to understand the reasons why he does things within the striking game. That was part of the conversation him and I were having,” Nicksick said.
“So just seeing his growth, I think that a lot of people underestimated it, but now he does have the belt, he’s the champ for a reason and I think people should take notice of that. I think he does pose a certain risk versus Izzy that I don’t wanna say Izzy is underestimating him but in talking to him a little bit of x’s and o’s, I was like, ‘Oh, I like your approach to that,’ and I also like to see Izzy come back, man. I think the division’s better when Izzy’s in it,” he continued.
Sean could be a backup
Nicksick is also willing to make Strickland a backup fighter should things go south in Du Plessis vs. Adesanya rematch. However, it will still boil down on whether or not “Tarzan” could do it.
“It looks like I’ll be out there anyway with Casey O’Neill so you know whatever the bosses want to do, I’m in,” Nicksick said.
“I’ve flown to all corners of the world for this stuff so to me, it’s nothing. If they want us to do it, we’re in and you know that opportunity happens, we seen it, we’ve seen people step in as the backup so make yourself available but for Sean, it’s a long trip, it’s a weight cut, it’s this it’s that so we we’ll see what he decides on,” he continued.
Du Plessis vs. Adesanya at UFC 305 is still unclear at this point. What Nicksick is sure about is that Strickland has a fight to win against Paulo Costa at UFC 302. As early as now, Nicksick thinks “Tarzan” would finish Costa in Round 4 or 5.
Watch Nicksick’s full interview below:
