There’s been another twist in the tale surrounding the drama between Sean Strickland and Eric Nicksick – this time, coming from one of their teammates at Xtreme Couture.
Following the middleweight title defeat in Australia, Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick admitted he was disappointed in Strickland’s performance at UFC 312.
In response, Strickland said it was unlikely that Nicksick would be in his corner again; explaining that there are plenty of other coaches at the world-famous MMA gym who could take his place.
Now, one of Sean Strickland’s own teammates has claimed that the ongoing dispute between him and his head coach was caused by a ‘payment dispute’ among other factors.
UFC insider claims Sean Strickland drama caused by payment dispute
Former UFC fighter Justin Jaynes has been a long-time student and friend of Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture and has therefore, also been a teammate of Strickland for a number of years.
Speaking via the TenSevenMMA YouTube channel earlier this week, Jaynes would claim that he’d held a private conversation with Nicksick in which it was revealed that the drama with Strickland had been influenced by an ongoing payment dispute.
“Going into that fight, they’d talked about payment and how much Eric thought he deserved to be paid and how much Sean wanted to pay – and I guess that were was a payment dispute somewhere along the lines.”
According to Jaynes, Nicksick sent Strickland a five-paragraph text message about the payment he’d yet to receive for training and traveling out to Australia for UFC 312 – only to be ‘ghosted’ by the former middleweight champion.
“Sean ghosted him, that obviously would be very upsetting. If I’m calling someone to talk about what I think I deserve and what I am being paid, and they don’t answer. That would f—– p—- me off.”
Jaynes noted that part of the drama also comes down to Strickland not being as invested in the title fight as Nicksick would’ve otherwise liked; before doubling-down on his claim that there’s a financial dispute at play behind-the-scenes.
“He [Nicksick] wasn’t getting paid what he thought he deserved, and I totally understand that. I can understand why he would come out and say the things he did out of frustration… It was a financial dispute, and you know, Eric was upset that he’s taking time away from people that deserve his time – mostly his family.
“The reason Eric said the thing he said was over a financial dispute, he didn’t feel that he was compensated accordingly, and he doesn’t want to work with someone who doesn’t want to give it their all…. This isn’t speculation, this is fact.”
Jaynes’ account of the drama is well-worth a listen to in full, with the former fighter keen to drive home the fact that “Eric gave me permission to disclose these details.”
- EXPLAINED: Daniel Cormier disagrees with Sean Strickland’s coach after controversial UFC 312 criticism
Eric Nicksick admits he ‘made a mistake’ in Ariel Helwani interview
In the days since Jaynes made his payment dispute claim, Nicksick himself has walked back his comments surrounding Strickland’s future and his performance in Australia.
During an appearance on his Verse Us Podcast, the veteran coach would admit that he “made a mistake” by going on The Ariel Helwani Show so quickly after UFC 312 while still suffering from jetlag.
“I don’t even consider it a fallout; I think it was just something I needed. I made a calculated mistake… But it was something I felt I really needed because it showed me a lot about people. It made me learn about what I need to do better.
“I made a mistake by accepting the invitation to go on at the timing of where I was at, I think people need to understand, you’re coming off 25 hours of travel, 19-hour time difference, I’m at the gym on Tuesday, half awake. I should’ve just said, ‘Hey man, not a good time.’
“That’s where I f— up,” acknowledged Nicksick, reaffirming that “I should’ve never done it.”