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Francis Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick has weighed in on Sean Strickland recently knocking out a sparring partner. Strickland trains at multiple gyms. One of the gyms he trains at is Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas under Nicksick's guidance.
On The Mystic Hour podcast with Darnel Giovani, Nicksick criticized Strickland for hurting his sparring partner and then posting a video of it online.
Nicksick stated:
“I told him, you know – For one, that’s never going to happen in my gym. You’re never going to be put anybody on blast like that in my gym; unless it was like a bullying situation where this guy came in and there’s something else, whatever, you’re trying to make a point. And even then, that’s happened before, and it’s never been released on social media.”
Nicksick highlighted that he hails from the old school and has trained at Xtreme Couture when they didn’t have phones to spontaneously record sparring sessions.
He indicated that old school Xtreme Couture fighters like Jay Hieron and Mike Pyle went hard in sparring when the situation demanded it but never posted videos of it online.
Additionally, Nicksick noted that hurting one’s sparring partners is allowed in certain gyms but not in others. He said that hurting sparring partners was frowned upon in Xtreme Couture back in the day, and still is today.
He explained:
“Now, when it comes to Sean and doing stuff like that, I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it promotes bad sparring. I don’t think it’s a good thing to show. But again, it’s Sean.”
Nicksick noted that Strickland is an adult and is responsible for his own actions. He also emphasized that the incident didn’t take place at Xtreme Couture, adding that he’s focused on maintaining the sanctity of his gym. He pointed out that Strickland’s actions don’t really worry him as long as they’re not done at his gym.
Watch Eric Nicksick address Sean Strickland’s sparring incident below:
Eric Nicksick’s star pupil Francis Ngannou is set to compete in a UFC heavyweight title unifier at UFC 270
While Sean Strickland continues ascending the UFC middleweight rankings, another one of Eric Nicksick’s students is set to compete in one of the most highly-anticipated heavyweight fights of all time.
Nicksick’s star pupil, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, is scheduled to face interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on January 22nd.
The Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane winner will emerge as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. The undisputed titleholder is likely to defend the title against Jon Jones when 'Bones' makes his heavyweight debut later this year.
