Sean Strickland reunited with coach Eric Nicksick

American combatant Sean Strickland and his celebrated trainer Eric Nicksick are moving unneurotic again aft the turbulent twelvemonth 2025. Although determination person been disagreements and nationalist statements hinting astatine a rift implicit the past year, it is present wide that some are acceptable to determination guardant and larn from past mistakes.

Strickland returns to the Octagon connected February 21 for the archetypal clip successful implicit a twelvemonth erstwhile helium faces Anthony Hernandez astatine a UFC lawsuit successful Houston. 

Strickland's past quality was successful February of past year, erstwhile helium mislaid to Dricus du Plessis successful a rematch for the middleweight title. It was this decision that strained the narration with the coach. The American adept past publically described the combatant arsenic "idealess and beneath par", portion the combatant soon said that his longtime mentor "probably won't beryllium successful his country anymore".

Nicksick explains today: “I’ll beryllium determination for him successful Houston. We some learned important lessons from that situation. There was a deficiency of communication; connected some sides. I was going done a pugnacious clip with my father’s health, I was traveling a batch and being away, and each of that was reflected successful campy and Sean’s injuries. At the extremity of the day, it each came down to america having to speech to each different better.”

The squad brag doesn’t fell his respect for his opponent: “Hernandez is an highly pugnacious challenge. He’s connected a winning streak, and I watched him unrecorded against Roman Dolidze and I thought I was watching a champion-caliber fighter. This is simply a superior test, but that’s precisely the benignant of combat we want.”

Subtitle: Lessons from the Past

The instrumentality to mean wasn’t easy. Strickland was retired of competition, recovering from injuries, and for a agelong clip it was unclear what his signifier would look like. Yet helium was successful the gym each day, helping others, mounting standards, and pushing radical to enactment hard. Nicksick points out, “Sean is simply a combatant who goes beyond conscionable his fights; his worth to the squad is immense. We’re similar brothers; we fight, we don’t ever get along, but we beryllium down, we robust things retired and determination on.”

Strickland is coming disconnected a unsmooth patch; he’s 1-2 successful his past 3 fights, portion Hernandez is coming disconnected a batch of momentum. Nicksick emphasizes, “This is simply a combat afloat of chaos. Two fighters who are perpetually moving forward; Hernandez wants to instrumentality down and hold, and Sean is perpetually pressing. The cardinal is to power the combat and beryllium acceptable to respond to the wrestling.”