Legendary MMA coach Eric Nicksick was the mastermind behind Sean Strickland’s massive upset victory at UFC 293, which saw the middleweight dethrone Israel Adesanya. After the fight, Nicksick revealed on The MMA Hour, Adesanya told him: “you saved that man’s life.”
“Izzy and I are cool. I have zero issues with this man, nothing but respect, nothing but respect for his team. It was nice to have a moment with him because all fight week long, you know how the tension is between teams and fights and fighters and this and that.
How Eric Nicksick “Saved Sean Strickland’s Life” At UFC 293
I don’t partake in any of that stuff, that’s none of my business. I’m not trying to sell the fight. I’m trying to execute the name in front of me, competitively, I’m just trying to get a win. So him coming over, giving me a hug, we talked about Francis for a minute, ‘I’ll see you in Saudi.’
That was the first thing he actually said to me. He said, ‘You saved that man’s life.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, how so?’ He was like, ‘You kept calling out my reads, man.
I heard you. Every time I would set something up, I heard you yelling. I was like, ‘I appreciate that, man,’ because he’s a wizard, he really is. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve learned a ton by studying this man over the years.
He’s allowed me to adapt, not only offensively but he’s helped my mind’s eye defensively as well. I love Izzy, I love his style, he’s one of the best to ever do it, so it was nice to have that moment with him.”
Nicksick did concede that, for a moment, it looked like Strickland might not get the result. “He got snake charmed.
He got mesmerized by watching Izzy. He got hypnotized by the feint game, by Israel Adesanya in front of him. Yeah, he probably had a little bit of an adrenaline dump.
I didn’t even get out of my seat. When the whole thing happened, I was like, one of two things is going to happen: It’s a finish and then I can celebrate or No. 2, the round’s going to be over and I’ve got very important information for him that I cannot bypass.
Because Izzy was setting him up and I saw. I saw the setup. I can’t lose sight of the emotions right now because if I don’t tell him this, Izzy is going to knock him out. I was worried.”
