Sean Strickland delivered one of the best performances of his career this past Saturday against surging contender Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston — a showing that didn’t surprise Strickland’s head coach Eric Nicksick.
“I think that’s the Sean that we all know, and that’s the Sean that we see when he’s performing at his best and when he’s healthy and when he’s dialed in,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “And that’s what we saw on Saturday night, man. So credit goes to Sean. He did the work and that’s what we expect from him.
“I know sometimes, in the past, I was critical of him and I think that criticism is my way of trying to motivate him just because we absolutely all know what Sean can do when he’s dialed in and he’s ready to go.”
Hernandez entered the bout on an impressive eight-fight win streak, and was a moderate favorite to defeat the former middleweight champion. Strickland came out on fire and established his jab, and a thunderous right hand in perfectly-timed spots. Strickland then landed a beautiful knee to the body in the third round that led to the emphatic finish.
For Nicksick, it wasn’t at the top of the list for best outings, but it’s definitely on the career Mount Rushmore.
“It’s up there pretty high,” Nicksick said. “I mean, obviously, beating Izzy, to me is still No. 1, but I think just with the overall complexion of the entirety of the camp, having a year off, being able to kind of heal up those injuries and the ups and downs, there was never really any self-doubt, but I think where the doubt comes in is recency bias.
“Sean’s last performance wasn’t his best, and then a guy like Fluffy who’s been on a tear, in my opinion, that’s why you saw the odds the way that they were, and that was really the last message that myself and Danny and the rest of the team was giving Sean was, ‘Hey, let’s go remind these motherf*ckers what you’re capable of,’ and that’s what he went out and did.”
The big narrative heading into the bout was the middleweight title picture, and who could be next for champion Khamzat Chimaev. On Friday, Nassourdine Imavov was the clear-cut top guy. In fact, Imavov told MMA Fighting the UFC tried to book a title fight between Chimaev and Imavov for December or February, but Chimaev was injured.
With Strickland’s big stoppage of Hernandez, plus his star power, along with Chimaev’s, many believe Strickland will be next to challenge for the belt, leap-frogging Imavov in the process — Nicksick included.
“I would say so,” Nicksick said. “It’s obviously up to the promotion, but we did our job the way that we were supposed to and we got style points by getting the finish and beating a guy like Fluffy, who’s on a tear, right? I think that’s kind of like, ‘Oh, well, Sean did his job, but he also finished a guy that hasn’t been finished in the last, I mean, I don’t know how long, eight fights, right?’
“I think that’s the way to go, but again, that’s going to be up to the promotion and what they decide on.”
Chimaev captured the middleweight title with a lopsided decision win over former champ Dricus du Plessis, who holds a pair of decision wins over Strickland in championship bouts. Chimaev has been known to either destroy his opponents in short order, or if it got late in fights, would hang on to do enough to get a win, despite being tired.
Nicksick saw improvements in Chimaev’s game in the du Plessis win, which only makes the challenge of trying to prepare for the undefeated fighter that much greater.
“I think Khamzat’s gotten better over the past few years himself, as well,” Nicksick said. “I think he’s addressing those, let’s say, cardio issues or his pit stops and his energy management. So we’re going to have our work cut out for us, man.
“That’s the best part about this game, is trying to put together a game plan that can go beat, arguably, one of the best fighters on the planet right now in Khamzat Chimaev and coming up with a game plan and nullify some of his best assets. So that’s the chess game. … I love those types of challenges.”
The storyline and rivalry between the two fighters continues to grow. Not only has there been trash talk from the fighters from a pre-fight kind of build, but now both have claimed they’ve dominated and demoralized the other at certain points.
Nicksick has seen moments on the mats between the two, and while there may be more than meets the eye that could come out, it’s not his place to say.
“I haven’t really seen the sparring, I’ve seen more of the grappling side of things,” Nicksick explained. “I’ll run that Monday practice, I saw bits and pieces of the sparring, but I don’t take anything away from any of that, a-side or b-side, In my opinion. When Khamzat was there, he was a guest, and he was there to help and make the team better, and it was our job to make him better while he was there.
“I just don’t take anything into the training. I mean, what happens in the training room should stay in the training room. That’s my thoughts If those guys want to talk about it, that’s up to them. I saw certain things that transpired that I feel like have not been mentioned, it’s just not on me to say, man. I don’t know, I think we kind of live under that code of what happens in the room stays in the room.”
“I think now with this day and age, everybody’s got a camera and social media, and a tripod in the gym, and this and that, and to me, I’m just old school and it’s something that Randy [Couture] never wanted I kind of live by that code.”
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