"Quite the opposite" - Coach Eric Nicksick clears the air on mystery training session between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland
Coach Eric Nicksick has seemingly cleared the air on Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland's mystery training session. Undefeated UFC star Chimaev used to primarily train at the Allstars Training Center in Sweden and has now shifted to the U.A.E. 'Borz' has also often trained under the tutelage of Nicksick at the Xtreme Couture gym in the US.
Nicksick is the head coach of Sean Strickland at the Xtreme Couture gym. 'Tarzan' notably partook in multiple training sessions with Chimaev at Xtreme Couture.
In September 2023, Sean Strickland dominantly defeated UFC megastar Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision to capture the UFC middleweight title in a major upset. At the next pay-per-view, Chimaev beat short-notice replacement Kamaru Usman via majority decision.
UFC CEO Dana White then asserted that Sean Strickland will defend his UFC middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev next. 'Tarzan' jibed at Chimaev and claimed that the latter doesn't deserve a middleweight title shot after his razor-close win over Usman.
'Borz', for his part, suggested that he dominated Strickland in a past sparring session and would finish him in their upcoming middleweight title fight as well.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Eric Nicksick has now indicated that Chimaev and Strickland were evenly matched in the sparring session. Furthermore, alluding to the fact that 'Borz' is a huge favorite against Strickland, he implied that betting on 'Tarzan' to win would be the smart move. Nicksick stated:
"I don't know what they saw in the gym, but that's not the case by any means. I won't speak about our training sessions. What happens inside our gym stays within our gym. But there was no one side or the other that was just getting blown out of the water... It's quite the opposite if you ask me. But it was very competitive."
He added:
"And Khamzat trains hard, man. He goes hard. He trains hard. And I think he made everybody in the room better. But by no means did I think that there was like, 'Oh, we're at a disadvantage by any means at all.'"
Watch Eric Nicksick discuss the topic below [29:05]:
Eric Nicksick lauds Sean Strickland's next potential opponent Khamzat Chimaev
Speaking with MMA Junkie a few days ago, Eric Nicksick similarly refrained from revealing the Khamzat Chimaev-Sean Strickland sparring session details. Nevertheless, Nicksick explained that his observations from their training and sparring would help craft a game plan for 'Tarzan' against Chimaev.
It's believed that Sean Strickland will defend his UFC middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev in 2024. Speaking of their potential fight, Eric Nicksick pointed out that 'Borz' continues to evolve his already-impressive skillset. Praising Chimaev, Nicksick said:
"I was blown away at Khamzatâs skillset. You know, his ability to strike with level change, his ability to strike from both stances, his penetration step. You know a lot of things he does on the ground. Things that I was able to talk to him about and bring over to our style, what we like to do."
Watch Eric Nicksick's assessment below [10:06]: