Sean Strickland Teases Coaching Change After UFC 312 Loss
Sean Strickland did not announce a split from coach Eric Nicksick after his February 2025 title loss to Dricus du Plessis. In a post-fight video, Strickland said Nicksick probably would not be in his corner next time, while also saying they remained friends and that he planned to keep training at Xtreme Couture. His comments pointed to a possible change in corner personnel, not a move away from the gym or a confirmed coaching overhaul.
What Strickland said about his corner
The discussion followed Strickland’s unanimous decision loss to du Plessis in Sydney. Nicksick had publicly described the performance as underwhelming after the fight. Strickland responded in a lengthy video, saying he understood the criticism but was frustrated that his coach had discussed the performance on a podcast before he had explained his own perspective. He said the two would remain friends and that he intended to continue working at the Las Vegas gym.
MMA Fighting’s report on Strickland’s video says he thought Nicksick probably would not be in his corner for a future bout. Strickland mentioned Nate Pettit and Ray Sefo among the other people at Xtreme Couture he would welcome in that role. He did not say he was leaving the gym, ending the friendship, or changing every part of his training team.
A difficult camp was part of his explanation
Strickland also described problems during preparation for the rematch. He said he had a broken bone in his arm a couple of months before the fight and traveled to Colombia about seven or eight weeks out for stem-cell treatment. He described worrying that the arm had been hurt again during training. He also said he had a staph infection during camp, that his visa was not approved until about a week before the event, and that arranging travel for cornermen had been difficult.
Those details came from Strickland’s own post-fight account. Before the bout, he had denied that a mark on his arm meant he had staph. In the later interview, he said the infection and broken bone were among several factors that made the camp difficult, but emphasized that he was not using them to erase the result. The distinction matters: his comments explain what he says he dealt with; they are not an independent medical report or proof of how much each issue affected his performance.
The fight result and the response
Du Plessis won the rematch by unanimous decision and retained the middleweight title. The official event recap records the result and the damage Strickland sustained to his nose late in the contest. Strickland praised du Plessis after the fight and said he kept going until the final horn, despite the injury.
That response puts the coaching comments in context. Strickland was upset by the public criticism, but he did not frame the disagreement as a complete break with Nicksick or Xtreme Couture. He spoke about possible changes to who would stand beside him on fight night while maintaining that he valued the relationships at the gym. At the time, whether Nicksick would corner him again was unsettled.
Nicksick later returned to his corner
The apparent split did not last. Ahead of Strickland’s 2026 fight with Anthony Hernandez in Houston, Nicksick said the two had talked through their disagreement and confirmed he would be back in Strickland’s corner. The account from MMA Fighting shows that Strickland’s February 2025 prediction was temporary, rather than a confirmed permanent coaching change.
Nicksick was also identified as Strickland’s head coach ahead of UFC 328 in May 2026, where Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev by split decision to reclaim the middleweight championship. The official UFC 328 recap confirms the title result. The later events show the coaching relationship resumed and that Strickland returned to the top of the division after his UFC 312 loss.
