While coach Eric Nicksick agrees that Sean
Strickland could benefit from some sophistication, he doesn’t
want his fighter to turn soft.
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Strickland (28-6) is scheduled to take on Paulo Costa
(14-3) in a five-round co-headliner at
UFC 302 on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Strickland is notorious for his rants and controversial opinions.
However, “Tarzan” was recently seen teaching his pup Harley how to
swim, leading people to wonder if the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ is really
kind-hearted and compassionate on the inside.
Strickland’s longtime coach recently confirmed that his pupil is,
in fact, a “softy.”
According to Nicksick, Strickland’s girlfriend, himself and other
members at the gym all work on refining some of Strickland’s edges.
However, they unanimously also don’t want the California native to
turn soft altogether.
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“Yeah, of course, man, he’s a big ol’ softy bro. Like 100%,”
Nicksick told Shakiel Mahjouri. “That’s the thing with him, it’s
just keeping his edge and all the while you try to refine him a
little better too as you hang out with him more and more. His
girlfriend K.J.’s definitely been a huge godsend to Sean and his
life. I think between myself and K.J., the gym and Danny Davis and
the bunch of us, we don’t want to turn this dude soft. We have to
keep his edge of course, but it is nice to have a little bit of
refinement when it comes to Sean.”
Fans saw Strickland’s emotional side exposed leading up to his
UFC 297 clash against Dricus Du
Plessis this past January. Strickland was admittedly affected
by du Plessis mentioning his abusive childhood in a pre-fight
presser. The American subsequently appeared on a podcast with
comedian Theo Von where he broke down while sharing intimate
details about his childhood abuse. Strickland went on to lose his
strap to “Stillknocks” in a razor-thin split decision.