"We can’t get too emotional”- Eric Nicksick talks having to calm down a “triggered” Sean Strickland following UFC 296 brawl with Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland is set to face Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297 in January for the middleweight title. Following their recent dust-up in the crowd at UFC 296, the anticipation for their clash could not be higher.

A couple of weeks ago, the pair was featured as part of the promotion's 2024 Season press conference, held the day prior to UFC 296. During the media event, 'Stillknocks' reportedly brought up Strickland's childhood trauma, which angered the middleweight champion more than fans had previously seen.

The following day, the pair were seated several rows apart from each other in the crowd for the promotion's final pay-per-view of the year, where they were involved in a brawl after a brief exchange of words.

Sean Strickland's coach, Eric Nicksick, has now shared his reaction to the incident, during a recent interview with MMAJunkie. He said:

"There's to sides to that coin. You know, Sean has no problem saying what he says about everybody us. So people are probably gonna poke and say things about him as well. I think it's a tough road to tow. You can't get too emotional about those situations. They are just words. But at the end of the day I did feel like he was triggered and there was a few days where it kind of motivated him."

"But I wanted him to understand that we need to have the right motivation. It didn't need to be this infuriated guy going there. ... But he's been great ever since then."

Listen to the video below from 11:55:

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Dricus du Plessis' camp believes he will walk through Sean Strickland, according to Daniel Cormier

Sean Strickland shocked the MMA world after dominating Israel Adesanya for five rounds at UFC 293 en route to a unanimous decision win that saw him crowned the new middleweight champion. He will now face Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 in his first title defense.

Daniel Cormier recently shared some insight into the confidence of the South African's team ahead of the fight. According to 'DC', he spoke to members of Du Plessis' team while at UFC 296 several weeks ago.

Cormier shared details of the conversation during a recent YouTube video, saying:

"I talked to people close to du Plessis, they believe it is an afterthought that he gets through Sean Strickland. They believe that he is so far ahead of Sean Strickland, that it will not be competitive. I don't know how you can watch that last fight [against Adesanya] and feel like that."

Watch the video below from 6:05: