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Eric Nicksick and Sean Strickland have resolved any differences between them and will enter February's UFC Fight Night 267 main event on the same page.
Nicksick expressed frustration about his working relationship with Strickland after the former UFC middleweight champion failed to regain his belt from Dricus Du Plessis in their UFC 312 rematch, which he lost by unanimous decision.
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The Xtreme Couture head coach felt his progress with Strickland had stalled and said he "probably" wouldn't appear in his corner again. It will be more than one year since then by the time Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) faces Anthony Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the Feb. 21 headliner at Toyota Center in Houston (Paramount+), and Nicksick said everything has been smoothed over.
"Yes sir, I'm there," Nicksick told MMAFighting. "First and foremost, I think for me there was a lot of learning experiences from that situation. Lack of communication on both of our parts, but I was going through a lot personally with my dad's health and then traveling and away from home. All of these things compiled into the way I felt the complexion of the camp was and some of the injuries Sean was dealing with. It really just boils down to the fact that we've just got to be better with our communication with one another. That was it.
"We talked about everything about a week or two after the fact. He knew where I was coming from. He knew the bottom line was I have a high standard of expectations from him because I know what he's capable of. He knows that I love him, and I care for him. We sat down and we spoke it out like men, and we're good to go. I'll be there in his corner."
Nicksick knows that Strickland is walking into a tough test at UFC Fight Night 267, where he'll test the eight-fight winning streak of Hernandez. It's a potential title eliminator at 185 pounds, and Nicksick hopes to be there to push his man through.
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"We have a very tough opponent in 'Fluffy,'" Nicksick said. "I think he's on an eight-fight winning streak, a guy that we had to corner against with Roman (Dolidze). 'Fluffy' came in there and did his thing. To me, watching him fight that night I was like, 'This kid's championship caliber.' So we're up for the challenge, and I'm looking forward to getting back with Sean and finishing what we started."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Houston: Eric Nicksick explains return to Sean Strickland corner
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