Sean Strickland's head coach Eric Nikcik believes the former champion could have won at UFC 297 with a few adjustments.
In the main event of the UFC's first pay-per-view card of the year in January, Strickland dropped a split decision against new champion Drikas du Plessis. It was one of the closest fights fans could watch, but the head of Extreme Couture explained what Strickland could have done to earn a favorable rating among the judges in this fight.
“If I win a few more optics battles, people will listen to me.” [say that] Over and over and over again,” Nickcik said. MMA hour. “Sean would die if he got cut on paper 1,000 times when it comes to jabs, right? So sometimes certain judges might see the same attacking technique over and over again, and that causes a lot of damage. , you might be winning a lot of games, but the lead tip and the rear tip are something. That was really what we focused on in that camp, for a number of reasons.
“One, it's like DDP breaking through some huge threat that's coming in the future, and the steepness of that is going to negate a lot of that. 'No, get him off your chest.'” Number two, We wanted to put on his gas tank and try to slow him down by kicking him in the stomach. Lastly, and this is very important, you could have given the judges another element of scoring, right? 1,000 paper cuts with a jab, even if it was just a kick to the body. I escaped death. ”
Strickland, who was named MMA Fighting's 2023 Fighter of the Year, captured the middleweight title with an impressive lopsided decision win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September of this year. Du Plessis got his first crack at the championship and Strickland put in a great performance despite the loss.
While striking optics are a different story, Niksic believes grappling, and more specifically wrestling optics, could have been a positive factor if they could go back in time.
“The other thing I always say about Sean is this guy can wrestle,” Nikaic said. And I'm not asking him to beat DDP, but with a transition takedown where we get taken down and Shawn hits the switch, we have a chance to come out on top. We have a chance to establish that position and have him be like, “Well, I don't know if I want to do it again,” right? It's like putting your hand in the cookie jar and no one claps your hand.
“So when we got knocked down, he got back up without any repercussions. So you have to change that element in his mind. Did you do that? [He] shot. Smart. He was trying to steal close combat optics. I’m going to try to get a takedown and shake it up my way. He told Sean that right after round one. He said, “When you hear 30 seconds, you know they're trying to do some aggressive wrestling.'' In the second round? I did the same thing.I could have won [du Plessis] round.
“So you have to understand that if you get taken down and we get back up, don't be afraid to do some aggressive wrestling there. Son, don't be afraid to change the flow a little bit. Don't be afraid to give him a second crack and make him worry about coming back, because you'll get that thought back in his head that says, “Well, maybe I don't want to shoot anymore.'' . It took a lot of damage by the time I got back there.”
Strickland is scheduled to face former title challenger Paulo Costa on June 1st at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey.
Nick Schick was thoroughly impressed with Costa's recent fight, which saw him drop a decision to former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in February. Nicksic is relishing this matchup, but also understands that Costa is a very difficult puzzle.
“i will do it [like it]'' Nicksick said. “Well, Costa is a beast. This guy is a beast, man.
“[I’ve] I once cornered him in Uriah Hall. …I thought he looked good. [in the Whittaker fight]. It was kind of what you see…I mean, to me, Robert Whittaker is, skill-wise, skill-by-skill, the best guy in that division. Without Izzy Adesnaya, Robert Whittaker has been the champion for a long time. So Costa came back as a beast to put on a similar performance as he did against Whittaker. Yeah, this guy, that's going to be a tough fight. ”
