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Eric Nicksick recently discussed the preparations for his pupil Sean Strickland's upcoming rematch against Dricus du Plessis and disclosed that he will be enlisting the services of a Bellator middleweight to assist with that. The bout has yet to officially be announced, but it appears all but confirmed that the rematch will transpire.
'Stillknocks' and 'Tarzan' headlined UFC 297 this past January in Toronto, Canada, which saw the South African become the new middleweight champion. du Plessis earned a split decision, however, it was controversial as many believed Strickland had done enough to retain.
While speaking to MMA Fighting, the Xtreme Couture coach disclosed that he will be relying on reigning Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen to help 'Tarzan' regain the championship. Nicksick heaped praise on Eblen's ability and mentioned that he is a great training partner for Strickland:
"[Eblen] will fight on the [PFL: Battle of the Giants] card, so once he gets healed up and ready to come, we'll have him out here. But, Johnny brings the best out of Sean [Strickland]. And in styles, I think Johnny can emulate so many different styles for us. He's another guy I consider a teammate even though he's an ATT champion...So I'm gonna lean heavy on Johnny Eblen this camp." [19:46 - 20:09]
Check out the full interview with Eric Nicksick below:
Eric Nicksick opens up about the difficulty preparing Sean Strickland for Dricus du Plessis
In addition to disclosing that he will be bringing in Johnny Eblen to help Sean Strickland in emulating Dricus du Plessis' fighting style, Eric Nicksick shed light on the difficulty preparing for the South African.
During the aforementioned interview, Nicksick highlighted du Plessis' striking and mentioned that there were areas that caused problems for Strickland at UFC 297:
"It's hard to emulate what Dricus does because I think he's very unorthodox, but he knows what he's doing within his own style. But there's so many things...that we didn't do right. I think we got caught with tunnel vision leading with the jab and just winning off the jab, where I think there were other things that we got away from that really help us solidify the fight...I'm looking forward to this matchup again." [20:10 - 20:36]
Check out the judges' decision for Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 below:
