Sean Strickland, the calculated enterprise man?
That new moniker got here as a shock to Strickland’s head coach Eric Nicksick. After shedding the middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, Strickland defeated Paulo Costa by way of cut up resolution at UFC 302 in June, then proclaimed that he’ll keep on the sidelines till he will get his likelihood to regain the belt — one he and Nicksick imagine he ought to nonetheless have.
“The man’s a mercenary, it’s simply he goes to the best bidder — like, ‘You need me to combat so and so, on at the present time, this time, 4 days’ discover? No matter, I’ll do it,’” Nicksick advised MMA Preventing. “Predominant occasion vs. Abus [Magomedov], ‘Superb, no downside, I’ll combat him.’
“However yeah, he’s really gotten a little bit smarter through the years, and I agree with him, man, wholeheartedly. I utterly perceive the place he’s coming from. Why danger combating a man as nice as Robert Whitaker when, in my thoughts, he’s by no means actually misplaced the belt?”
The title will likely be on the road on the upcoming UFC 305 pay-per-view occasion as du Plessis defends towards Israel Adesanya, who returns for the primary time since Strickland defeated him to turn out to be champ at UFC 293 this previous September.
Though it’s dangerous to take a seat on the sidelines, Nicksick believes the storylines Strickland has with each fighters places him in an incredible place for a rematch both manner.
“That was such an in depth combat towards Dricus,” Nicksick stated. “He dominated Izzy. I believe if Izzy wins that combat, that’s a straightforward rematch. Izzy’s going to wish to attempt to get that revenge, and if Dricus wins, I believe that you just put that to relaxation and provides Sean the chance to avenge that loss. So each of them make sense to me. I believe Sean has a declare on the subsequent shot at that belt and, , sit on it. I imply, these guys combat subsequent week, so we may combat by November or December.”
Whereas Strickland feels he has earned his likelihood for a second title reign, UFC booked an enormous 185-pound matchup between former champion Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev for the co-main occasion of UFC 308 in October.
Regardless of the excessive stakes of Whittaker vs. Chimaev, Nicksick is assured that no matter is meant to occur will occur.
“I’m probably not involved in any respect,” Nicksick stated. “You made your mattress, it’s a must to sleep in it. So after a calculated danger, if the promotion decides to move you up, that’s on the promotion. That’s as much as them. We don’t make that decision, however I believe he’s doing the proper factor. He was taken care of, he’s acquired cash within the financial institution, he’s coaching day-after-day like he can be if he had a title combat developing on Aug. 17. So he’s within the gymnasium and he’s working, that’s all I can actually ask for.
“Issues can shake out in a different way and we all know that, however once more, the identical alternative that arose when it was speculated to be Izzy vs. Dricus the primary time, we acquired handed up after which Dricus couldn’t make the combat, we acquired the chance, we took it, we ran with it. So I’m not too fearful about it. It’s what it’s and we’ll see the way it shakes out.”
