Sean Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick plans to have his fighter prepared if he gets the call to fight at UFC 293 in September.
After Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) defeated Abus Magomedov by second-round TKO in the UFC on ESPN 48 main event earlier this month, he put himself in striking distance of a middleweight title shot. However, one week later, Dricus Du Plessis made a definitive statement as to who is next in line to challenge reigning champion Israel Adesanya when he upset Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.
All signs point to an Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) vs. Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) grudge match for the belt going down at UFC 293, which takes place Sept. 9 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, but it has not been officially announced. There’s a chance it doesn’t materialize and Strickland gets the call to fight Adesanya instead, but Xtreme Couture head coach Nicksick said that, at worst, he expects Strickland to be positioned as the backup fighter.
“I think you have to (prepare for it),” Nicksick told MMA Junkie on the most recent episode of the “Spinning Back Clique” roundtable show. “That’s the thing with Sean. My main concern is not him being prepared – just making sure his weight is within striking distance to make that championship, 185-pound limit. Being prepared and being ready for this – it’s very hard to say you’re going to get a short-notice title fight. But it’s one of those situations where you look at the history of this division, guys will be there fight night. The Whittakers and (Yoel) Romeros, and fights get scrapped, that’s why they have backups.
“It’d be interesting to see if they book this, will Sean Strickland be the backup fighter for this event? He does need to stay ready because that phone might ring at any moment, and I won’t be behind the eight ball. I want to be ready to go and get this taken care of.”
Even if Adesanya vs. Du Plessis is booked for UFC 293 and goes ahead without issue, Nicksick thinks Strickland is in a good spot – especially if Adesanya retains the belt.
Strickland is one of the few highly-ranked middleweights who has never shared the octagon with Adesanya, and there’s plenty of friction between the two. They’ve exchanged comments in interviews and had a memorable exchange at the UFC 276 pre-event press conference in July 2022, so Nicksick sees the fight happening eventually. It just depends on the circumstances.
“I think Dricus did the job he needed to do,” Nicksick said. “I did not think he was going to beat Robert Whittaker, amongst others. But the way he did it and the fashion he did it – credit to him, man. He definitely deserves that shot. So we’ll see what the UFC decides to do. Sean’s not a guy to sit around and wait. He’s a fighter by nature. I think chess-wise he should sit around and wait. Play a little chess and sit around and wait for that. Because I think if Izzy wins, you’re a shoo-in for that title shot. It will depend on what he wants to do and what the UFC proposes.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
