Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is poised to potentially earn another title shot after defeating Anthony Hernandez last weekend.
Strickland bounced back from his loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 with a dominant performance against Hernandez in the headliner of UFC Houston. He stopped Hernandez midway through round 3 to earn his first TKO win since July 2023.
After UFC Houston, Strickland had a wild post-fight press conference, with many claims about current UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev. The feud between Strickland and Chimaev has escalated in recent weeks, and Strickland reignited the flames behind the feud when he claimed at the press conference that he had Chimaev quit while training together at Xtreme Couture.
Strickland’s longtime coach and the former UFC middleweight champion have had an up-and-down relationship over the past year. His coach disagreed with the revelations at the post-fight press conference.
Eric Nicksick responds to Sean Strickland’s claims about sparring with Khamzat Chimaev
In a recent interview with Submission radiocoach Eric Nicksick responded to Strickland’s comments, sharing a surprising stance against his old student’s claims.
“I think what happens in the training room should stay in the training room,” Nicksick said of Strickland.
“Training is training. Guys should put themselves in less advantageous positions to make themselves better. We do a lot of situational sparring and training. But again, outside of camp I think guys need to work on things and explore new options, develop new tactics and techniques. Because you think that just because you beat a guy in the training room, whether you’re on the A side or the B side, you don’t have to take that into the fight.”
“What happens in the training room, in my opinion, should stay in the room,” Nicksick continued on Strickland. “I think both guys are great competitors, opponents of the game, so to me none of that matters.”
Chimaev won the UFC middleweight title last year by defeating Du Plessis at UFC 319. Meanwhile, Strickland may need to win at least one more fight, possibly against top contender Nassourdine Imavov, to get another shot at the title.
How would a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland go? Let us know your predictions in the comments!
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