Sean Strickland, the calculated enterprise man?
That new moniker got here as a shock to Strickland’s head coach Eric Nicksick. After dropping the middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, Strickland defeated Paulo Costa through cut up choice at UFC 302 in June, then proclaimed that he’ll keep on the sidelines till he will get his probability to regain the belt — one he and Nicksick consider 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 this present day, this time, 4 days’ discover? No matter, I’ll do it,’” Nicksick instructed MMA Combating. “Fundamental occasion vs. Abus [Magomedov], ‘Positive, no downside, I’ll combat him.’
“However yeah, he’s really gotten a bit smarter through the years, and I agree with him, man, wholeheartedly. I utterly perceive the place he’s coming from. Why threat preventing 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.
Although it’s dangerous to take a seat on the sidelines, Nicksick believes the storylines Strickland has with each fighters places him in a terrific place for a rematch both method.
“That was such an in depth combat towards Dricus,” Nicksick mentioned. “He dominated Izzy. I believe if Izzy wins that combat, that’s a straightforward rematch. Izzy’s going to need 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, you understand, sit on it. I imply, these guys combat subsequent week, so we might combat by November or December.”
Whereas Strickland feels he has earned his probability 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 mentioned. “You made your mattress, it’s important to sleep in it. So after a calculated threat, 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 precise 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 health club and he’s working, that’s all I can actually ask for.
“Issues can shake out in another way and we all know that, however once more, the identical alternative that arose when it was presupposed 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 apprehensive about it. It’s what it’s and we’ll see the way it shakes out.”
Trending Merchandise
