Tag: Eric Nicksick

Eric Nicksick reflects on spat with ex-UFC champion Sean Strickland: ‘The timing was wrong’

Eric Nicksick insists it’s water under the bridge with Sean Strickland.

[autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] insists it’s water under the bridge with [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Nicksick was pretty vocal with his discontent toward Strickland’s lackluster performance against Dricus Du Plessis in their title-fight rematch at 312, which prompted Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) to say he doubts Nicksick be in his corner again.

Nicksick doesn’t necessarily regret what he said. The Xtreme Couture head coach explained that he came from a good place when addressing someone who he doesn’t just see as a student, but as a friend. He thinks perhaps he shouldn’t have done it so soon after the loss.

“The timing was wrong on my part, and the wording wasn’t as crystal clear as what I should have gotten out,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio. “Everyone in the gym that knows me, Sean included, knew where my heart was and knew where my head was and the point that I was trying to get across.

“Sean said that to me immediately via text. He was like, ‘Hey man, I know exactly what you mean.’ I saw him in person that same Thursday. We hugged, high-fived. ‘I’m going out snowboarding.’ We had a good conversation. So as far as I’m concerned, everything’s good on our end.”

Nicksick was criticized by a few pundits for his harshness towards Strickland, who gave a much more competitive effort in his first fight with Du Plessis at UFC 297.

“Whether I’m his coach, in his corner, none of that bothers me,” Nicksick said. “What I said was from the heart because I love him and I care about him. I want to see him at his best in the best capacity that we all know Sean. If I lie as a coach, I’m not doing my job. If I feel like we’re missing something, then I’m not doing my job. Should I have said it publicly? You know, maybe I shouldn’t have. I don’t know.”

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Chris Curtis’ head coach explains issue with ‘egomaniac’ referee Mark Smith: ‘We’re now fighting two people’

Eric Nicksick went off on referee Mark Smith for his handling of Chris Curtis’ loss at UFC Fight Night 249.

[autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] went off on referee [autotag]Mark Smith[/autotag] for his handling of [autotag]Chris Curtis[/autotag]’ loss at UFC Fight Night 249.

Curtis (31-12 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was dropped by a Roman Kopylov (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) head kick with just one second left in their middleweight fight this past Saturday at the UFC Apex, prompting Smith to waive the fight off.

Curtis immediately protested the stoppage, but his head coach Nicksick is irked by other things that happened during the fight – which he warned Smith about prior.

“First and foremost, we need to take accountability on our end,” Nicksick said on his “Versus Us” podcast. “We should have never been in that position. If you don’t want Mark to make that call, then don’t get head kicked. Don’t be in that position or that situation to make him make that type of decision.

“Now, the stoppage was questionable. We’re all agreeing to that, but it wasn’t the stoppage that I’m mad about. It was the fact that prior to the fight, the referee comes in and asks, ‘Do you have any questions or concerns?’ Chris Curtis went on and said, ‘This guy will find ways to stall. What are you going to do if and when he does stall? How are you going to handle that?’

“We laid out the game plan on how we’re going to attack and approach. … We were told something different than the way he handled it in the fight. That’s what I’m pissed off about. You never get three timeouts in a f*cking fight. So, No. 1, he spit his mouthpiece out. That wasn’t too bad. All right: Groin strike. OK, time(out). Remember when the momentum was where: Chris was going downhill. You guys hear me yell, ‘Oregon … no huddle … keep that f*cking offense on the field and keep the pressure,’ right? Then the eye poke, and I calmly said to Mark, ‘Hey, that is two infractions in a row in this round. Where’s the point?'”

Nicksick revealed that he goes way back with Smith, who used to ref some of the sparring sessions at Xtreme Couture. His frustration with Smith’s stoppage of Curtis’ fight was audible on the broadcast.

“For whatever reason it is, I feel like every time I see Mark, we’re fighting against two people, not one,” Nicksick said. “That’s my feeling. … That’s how I feel when I see that dude come in the back. When I see (Jason) Herzog, I’m like, ‘Great, this dude’s going to give us a fair shake.’ (Mike) Beltran, he’s going to give us a fair shake.’ When I see Mark Smith, I’m like, ‘How is this guy going to find a way to f*ck us over, some how, some way?'”

Nicksick has had an issue with Smith’s reffing for years, he said, and hopes he can request him not to officiate any of Xtreme Couture’s fights moving forward.

“I’m going to find all that out, 100 percent – it’s just too far gone,” Nicksick said. “I know this guy too well, anecdotally, through all of my experiences with him, and on a personal level of what I’ve seen with other people and other fights.

“There’s no way that this guy can’t hold a grudge or bias. There’s just no way. I know him too well. He fraternizes with other gyms, teams, fighters, coaches and everything else, so the lines have been blurred. I think he’s an egomaniac. I mean, I’ve never heard a ref ask people to vote for him for the ‘MMA Ref of the Year.'”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 249.

Francis Ngannou’s coach details how he would game plan for Jon Jones: ‘Make it an ugly fight’

If Francis Ngannou were to face Jon Jones, Eric Nicksick would advise him to bring the fight to him.

If [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] were to face [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] would advise him to bring the fight to him.

PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou (17-3) and UFC heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) were on a collision course in the UFC until Ngannou opted to sign with PFL.

UFC CEO Dana White is not a fan of cross promotion, but if a deal was ever reached where a superfight between Ngannou and Jones happened, Nicksick broke down what their game plan would look like.

“I definitely think you had to put Jon on his backfoot,” Nicksick told Kevin Iole. “You had to put pressure on him, you had to put him up against the corner post, and you couldn’t get in a technical fight with Jon. And you couldn’t allow him to dictate the hand play, right – where he starts to occupy your hands and that’s a slow-paced type of fight where Jon is very technical there, and he starts to pick you apart with elbows, and the clinch, and the knees and the things that he does so well.

“For me, I thought we’ve got to get this guy on his backfoot, and we’ve got to apply pressure right away and make it an ugly fight. Don’t make it a technical fight. You’re going to have to make this grimy and try to get him out of there in the first two, three rounds. I think the longer a fight would have gone between him and Francis, it would have favored more Jon, and that was where I felt like if we put a game plan on him, we were going to have to put the pace on him.”

Jones makes his first heavyweight title defense when he takes on Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 309 headliner Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Coach Eric Nicksick: Francis Ngannou ‘was questioning himself’ before PFL title win, entered with rib injury

In addition to the tremendous emotional and mental burden Francis Ngannou carried into his PFL debut, he also overcame physical hurdles.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – In addition to the tremendous emotional and mental burden [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] carried into PFL: Battle of the Giants following the tragic death of his son, he also overcame physical hurdles.

Ngannou (18-3) revealed to MMA Junkie post-fight after Saturday’s first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira (13-4) to claim the inaugural PFL superfight heavyweight title, that his camp was troubled by a rib injury that led to a degree of contemplation about pulling out of the fight.

He ultimately moved forward with the contest and got the job done, but his head MMA coach [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] admitted there was a degree of concern, especially if Ngannou was forced to fight from bottom position at any point against Ferreira.

“It was bad enough to where you’ve got to think: He blew out his knee and wasn’t going to pull out of the Ciryl Gane fight, (but almost pulled out of this one),” Nicksick told MMA Junkie in an exclusive interview on Sunday. “There’s a difference, different stakes, but also it was a different type of pain for him, and obviously we had a grappling-heavy game plan.

“He was worried if he was on his back, how he would be able to move and try to grapple with an injured rib. Once he went to the doctors and they cleared him with an MRI and everything else, I think he realized, ‘I’m going to be OK. I’m going to get through this still.'”

Although the injury was not inconsequential, it also paled in comparison to everything else Ngannou had to endure in his return to MMA exactly 1,000 days after he competed in his final UFC bout against Gane in January 2022.

Ngannou’s 15-month-old son Kobe tragically passed away earlier this year and the trauma of the situation led to thoughts of retirement. Ngannou said he ultimately decided he wanted to come back and dedicate a winning performance to his deceased child, and once he conquered that mission, the emotion poured out in the form of a lengthy embrace with Nicksick and many tears inside the cage.

“I can see the weight lifted off his shoulders immediately,” Nicksick said. “I think that was a lot of my emotional reaction when he won the fight. I just wanted to get in there and be with my boy. He’s been through a lot, and more than I think a lot of us will ever know. It’s just an unimaginable set of events that occurred. Not only that, but coming back and winning in the fashion that he won – it’s just a lot of emotions.

“There wasn’t a lot of words being said (when we embraced). I just wanted to be there and just hug my boy, man. Seeing the emotions that he’s had the last six months, and not only that, even going back to the Anthony Joshua fight – a lot of questioning. It was heavy. It was just heavy. There wasn’t a lot being said. I just told him I loved him, gave him a big old hug and just wanted to be there with him and support him.”

Ngannou, 38, admitted after the victory that part of his motivation to return to fighting was to “find out if I can still fight, if I still have it.” There was real amount of self doubt, and Nicksick said that didn’t go away even as the final hours wound down to standing across from Ferreira.

As Ngannou has done over and over throughout his life, however, he found a way to accomplish his goal. He did it when he escaped his native Cameroon in pursuit of a better life. He did it when he survived homelessness in France. He did it when he entered MMA with limited experience and rose to become UFC champion. And he did it again on Saturday in claiming PFL gold.

“I never questioned him, but I know he was questioning himself all the way – even up until the day of the fight,” Nicksick said. “I know that he carried a different type of weight to him and all I told him was, ‘There’s no other person in the world that I’ve met that has the courage and resiliency that you have. And if there’s anybody that can get through some sort of adversity, it’s going to be you. I don’t know what it is about God or fate or the universe that they put things in front of you. They put things in front of you because they want to see you get through it.’ That was my thing for him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.

Video: ‘Inside Look’ at Xtreme Couture with coach Eric Nicksick

Eric Nicksick gives us an all-access pass to Xtreme Couture, the Las Vegas-based gym that’s housed former UFC champions and more.

LAS VEGAS – After almost three years and two high-profile boxing matches, former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] makes his long-awaited return to mixed martial arts Saturday when he takes on reigning PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira in the main event of the promotion’s “Battle of the Giants” (ESPN+, pay-per-view).

Before Ngannou steps inside the cage, we take an “Inside Look” at Xtreme Couture with Ngannou’s longtime head coach, [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag], who gave us an all-access pass to the gym that UFC legend [autotag]Randy Couture[/autotag] founded in 2007. The gym has served as the home base for Ngannou, former UFC champions [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] and [autotag]Miesha Tate[/autotag], as well as a host of more big names from the UFC, PFL and Bellator.

“There’s something about this gym and what happens inside these walls that builds character, builds men, turns people into better individuals,” Nicksick said. “That’s always what has kept me here at Xtreme and why I love this place so much.”

You can watch the full video above and on our YouTube channel.

REPLAY VIDEO: MMA Junkie Radio milestone Episode #3500 with big-name guests galore!

Celebrate MMA Junkie Radio’s 3,500th episode with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” as they welcomed in a plethora of big-name guests.

Thursday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio is like no other!

Hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” celebrated their 3,500th episode with a special live stream of the show.

A plethora of big-name guests joined the show, including UFC stars of the past and present: [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag], [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], [autotag]Randy Couture[/autotag], Chael Sonnen, [autotag]Rashad Evans[/autotag], [autotag]Gilbert Melendez[/autotag], [autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag], [autotag]Johny Hendricks[/autotag], and [autotag]Frank Trigg[/autotag]. Also joining the show were Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick, UFC reporter Megan Olivi, commedian/actor Joey Diaz, the legendary Burt Watson, as well as members of the MMA Junkie staff. Tune in!

You can watch the live stream of episode #3500 in the video above.

Eric Nicksick: Dricus Du Plessis would ‘have problems’ vs. Alex Pereira in battle of UFC champs

Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick shares his analysis of a potential Dricus Du Plessis vs. Alex Pereira champ-vs.-champ showdown.

Xtreme Couture head coach [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] would struggle against [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag].

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) welcomed Pereira’s challenge after he submitted Israel Adesanya to retain his middleweight title at UFC 305. Light heavyweight champion Pereira proposed they fight at middleweight, but Du Plessis prefers 205 pounds.

If they did fight at light heavyweight, Nicksick thinks Du Plessis’ striking style would finally catch up to him against Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC).

“So comparison-wise think about what Alex Pereira would do to a guy like Jiri Prochazka, and Jiri is very similar in the way of Dricus in the erratic behavior of the way he throws his punches,” Nicksick told Submission Radio. “I think Jiri is more of a feel fighter where he’s not putting pre-disposed combinations in his head off of these types of reads. He’s just kind of throwing. Whereas Dricus is throwing these things, but he’s also leaving his hands behind in certain positions, right? Like if he’s hitting that switch cross or switch overhand, he’s like one hand’s in the pocket, the other hand is in the pocket when he’s throwing that looping overhand.

“That’s where I think Alex Pereira is elite. I think he sees the holes in the defense. So, Dricus kind of hits those a couple times, and Alex catches that timing. That’s where his counter striking is so great. I think that’s where Dricus will have problems. I don’t think you can have that same type of approach as many times as he did against Izzy as he could against Alex Pereira. It’s like that using the same pickup line at the bar with the same girl over and over and over, and finally she’s like, ‘Fine, here. F*cking here’s my number,’ you know? But after a while you’re like, dude, like, this is not going to work. Like you got to – but all of a sudden it works. You’re like, ‘God damn it.'”

Du Plessis has options for his next title defense but thinks Robert Whittaker would be more worthy of a rematch than Sean Strickland if he can get past Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308.

Strickland’s head coach, Nicksick, disagrees.

“I think Robert Whittaker is a guy who always is deserving of a title shot, especially when he’s winning the fashion that he is winning,” Nicksick said. “But when push comes to shove, if you’re just comparing the two, the two common opponents. Dricus finished Robert Whittaker, and he arguably won a very close split decision vs. Sean Strickland. Right? So I think the fans want to see that finished. I think Sean has earned that right.”

Strickland was edged out by Du Plessis in their title fight at UFC 297. He has since rebounded with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 and refuses to fight anyone but Du Plessis for the title next.

Nicksick expects another war if they run things back.

“You would love to say like, ‘Oh, we’re going to go in there and smoke this dude,'” Nicksick said. “But Dricus, he’ll look awful and then then he comes back in and does his thing. So, you’ve got to expect a knockdown, drag-out fight, 2-2 going into Round 5. Hey, we’re down to the last five minutes. You know, we’re going to have to dig deep and figure out a way to get this fight. That’s how we have to train. That’s how we have to expect it. It’s going to be to the death.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.

‘Speed and very good basics’: Eric Nicksick breaks down Francis Ngannou’s first PFL opponent Renan Ferreira

Eric Nicksick critiques Francis Ngannou’s opponent Renan Ferreira ahead of their October PFL showdown.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] has his first assignment in the PFL, a tall task in 6-foot-8 [autotag]Renan Ferreira[/autotag].

Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick is well aware of the dangers the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion brings to the cage, but believes Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 0-0 PFL) will remind everyone what he can do in MMA. “The Predator” left the UFC as the champion, went on to box two of the best heavyweights on the planet, and is now set to return to MMA on Oct. 19 at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants.

According to Nicksick, win over Ferreira (13-3 MMA, 7-1 PFL) will be important for Ngannou to keep his name in conversations as the best heavyweight in MMA.

“This is a very dangerous opponent,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “We’ve been watching him for a long time. Fast, long, big, tall, powerful guy. So we got our work cut out for us, but I think if Francis can go in there and do what he’s capable of, yeah, it definitely puts us right back in that mix.”

Although Ngannou lost both of his boxing outings to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, he is a winner of six straight in MMA. That streak includes stoppage wins over former UFC champions Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic. In his final UFC bout, he beat the then-interim champ with a torn MCL and damaged ACL.

“We’re talking about a guy who beat Ciryl Gane on one leg,” Nicksick said. “What he’s capable of doing when he’s healthy, it’s just different. It really is just different, and we saw pieces of that when he fought Tyson Fury. This guy’s a competitor and he raises his level every time out.”

Ngannou will enter the first fight of his PFL contract against arguably the best possible opponent the promotion can currently offer. But what does Ferreira bring to the table that could threaten Ngannou?

“Speed and very good basics,” Nicksick said. “And I don’t mean that to be rude. He wins fights off a jab-cross and pull counters, and super sharp, sharp basics. But you talk about the heavyweight division where you’re looking at 4 oz. gloves, and a guy that size and that stature, he touches you with one strike, one hand, he could put your lights out. We saw that with Ryan Bader, who’s an accomplished heavyweight.”

Ferreira, 34, stopped Bader in just 21 seconds at PFL vs. Bellator: Champions in February, which came after a second-round stoppage of Denis Goltsov to win the 2023 championship in November. In his seven PFL wins, Ferreira has only gone the distance once.

“Just a guy that I think is only going to get better in Renan Ferreira,” Nicksick said. “So, we got our work cut out for us, and I’m excited for the challenge.”

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Eric Nicksick ‘very optimistic’ about potential of Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones cross-promotional fight

Eric Nicksick would love the opportunity to lead Francis Ngannou into battle against Jon Jones in a cross-promotional bout.

Xtreme Couture head coach [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] isn’t giving up hope on the potential of a massive [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] bout.

Ngannou is a couple of months away from returning to the MMA cage in his PFL debut on Oct. 19 against 2023 champion Renan Ferreira. The former UFC heavyweight champion never lost his title, which is currently held by Jones.

For Nicksick, that dream matchup between two top MMA heavyweights who are no longer under the same promotional banner remains at the top of his wish list.

“It has to be,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “How can you be in this position and not want to try to fight the best to ever do it, right? And again, I’ve said this time and time again, I think Jon is the best to ever do it, and if you’re a competitor, how do you not want to try to compete against arguably the best to ever do it?

“That is, yes – you want to gameplan, you want to compete, you want to try to put your best camp forward and your best fighter, and that’s obviously Francis. Yeah, that’s definitely something I would still love to have that opportunity to be able to do.”

The path to a Ngannou vs. Jones fight was once very possible. They were both in the UFC prior to Ngannou’s exit after a unanimous decision victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. However, Jones admitted needed three years to get ready to move from light heavyweight to heavyweight. Unfortunately, their timelines never aligned, and Ngannou signed with the PFL, who offered him the freedom to compete in boxing.

Jones currently holds the UFC heavyweight title and is lined up to face former champ Stipe Miocic later this year. The matchup has not sat well with many, considering Miocic’s inactivity and Tom Aspinall holding and defending the interim heavyweight title.

Beyond both winning their upcoming fights, Ngannou vs. Jones would require a concession from the UFC, as the promotion has not been open to cross-promotional fights in the past. PFL execs have said they would welcome the opportunity to see the fight, placing the ball in the UFC’s court.

Nicksick is a “never say never” type of guy and would love for things to shake up behind the scenes to create one of the biggest matchups in MMA history before their careers are over.

“I’m very optimistic when it comes to these things and I think money talks, you know, and you get the right people behind you,” Nicksick said. “Obviously we have a good relationship with Saudi, and I know Dana and UFC are working well with Saudi, so money talks. No disrespect to Dana, but he has a boss as well. So, somebody tells, ‘Hey man, this is a lot of money. We’re taking this. Set your ego aside.’

“I think Dana is in a position where he wants to make the best fights, and he’s not going to let his ego or any past history take advantage of that. If he feels that Jon Jones is the best to ever do it, then absolutely, put your best guy forward and give us the opportunity to see if we can dethrone that man.”

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Eric Nicksick: Francis Ngannou ‘in a good place,’ main focus to help him ‘heal’ after son’s tragedy

Coach Eric Nicksick is happy to have Francis Ngannou back on the mats as he prepares for his PFL debut vs. Renan Ferreira.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] is on the verge of making his PFL debut, and after everything he’s been through outside of combat sports, Xtreme Couture head coach [autotag]Eric Nicksick[/autotag] is thrilled to have him back working toward his MMA return.

Ngannou will make his long-awaited debut under the PFL banner on Oct. 19 against the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira. It will be the first MMA fight for Ngannou after his final fight in the UFC, a title-defending unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane.

“I’m happy for him, and just like we’ve talked about quite a bit just with the passing of his son, just to keep his mind occupied and get him focused on his fighting career,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “I wasn’t sure if he was ever going to fight again.

“That type of tragedy, that type of loss, you just never know how somebody’s going to rebound. But getting him back in the room, getting him back in the gym kind of reinvigorated those MMA juices again and he wanted to fight, so I’m happy for him, man. It seems like he’s in a good place right now.”

“The Predator” took full advantage of the flexibility a contract with the PFL offered: the ability to compete in boxing. Ngannou made his professional debut in the boxing ring against champ Tyson Fury, and turned many heads by scoring the only knockdown in a split decision loss. He followed that up with a matchup against former champion Anthony Joshua, but was finished in the second round.

Significantly more important than his second boxing loss, was the death of his son Kobe, which occurred a month after. Ngannou admitted thoughts of retirement as he struggled with processing his son’s death.

Nicksick is just happy to be able to be in a position to help Ngannou get his mind off his family’s tragedy.

“I think that was the main focus of all of us was getting him back in the room and just try to help him heal, that was really it,” Nicksick said. “If in that time, in that process he felt comfortable that he wanted to fight again, then so be it. Really for us, it was just more about his psyche and getting our friend back and taking care of him.

“… We’re talking about the most resilient person I’ve ever met. This is just something I think that for whatever reason, God, fate, the universe, just puts these hurdles in front of this man, and we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing.”

It will have been 1,001 days between MMA fights for Ngannou when he makes his first walk to the cage in PFL. While his recent focus has been on performing in the boxing ring against world-class competition, Nicksick said Ngannou never stopped working on his wrestling game, too. Because of that, he believes Ngannou will shine in the PFL.

“I’m just honored to be by his side,” Nicksick said. “He’s my friend first and foremost. I know at the end of the day, I’m his coach, but we’re brothers in arms. I know what he’s fighting for and I know his purpose right now. I’m here to help him accomplish that goal.”

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