Adesanya’s lifeless performance, according to Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick, speaks to Strickland’s cage execution.
After a fighter suffers an unexpected defeat, doubters frequently cast doubt on their abilities. Following Israel Adesanya’s unsuccessful middleweight title defence against Sean Strickland at UFC 293, there were undoubtedly supporters that disregarded both the fighter and his head coach Eugene Bareman. Adesanya’s demise, according to Eric Nicksick, Strickland’s coach at Xtreme Couture, was the result of the new champion’s design.
On his way to a well-deserved upset decision victory, Strickland suddenly felled Adesanya in Round 1 and largely stifled the offence of the defending champion. Adesanya reportedly thanked Nicksick later for preventing his offence from starting.
After the match, Izzy and I had a fantastic conversation backstage, Nicksick said to “Morning Kombat” host Luke Thomas on Tuesday. “You saved that man’s life, Izzy murmured as she approached me. ‘Oh yeah, how so?’ I exclaimed. You kept calling out my reads, he says. And I responded, “Yeah,” after observing what you were erecting.
“The southpaw drop step was one of those things. Izzy would switch back to his southpaw stance from orthodox. Sean would parry his southpaw cross as the other person threw it towards his right hand. ‘Bro, he’s going to same-side head kick you,’ I yell at Sean. It will follow closely following it.
https://youtu.be/oWpS48lbBtc
After Adesanya’s uninspired performance, Nicksick defended City Kickboxing coach Bareman. Invalidating Adesanya and his team also jeopardises the performance of team Strickland. Bareman has gained his reputation as a top coach.
I believed we had Izzy where we wanted him until we started to mess with the time and rhythm, according to Nicksick. It’s true that he was stuck in the mud, but there was a good reason why. due to the fact that we “f—ing muddied” up his ass.
One of the greatest pure attackers in the annals of mixed martial arts is Adesanya. Their four-week training camp had as its goal neutralising certain offensive threats, particularly those that Strickland was vulnerable to.
“The biggest thing that we knew going into this fight that we were going to need to shut down were the calf kicks,” said Nicksick. That was my main worry just based on stance. I know what I’m doing if I’m fighting Sean. I am aware of our weaknesses. As a result, coaching requires reverse engineering. Where are they going to exploit us is the question you must ask. These gaps need to be filled. If we can accomplish that, things will only get worse for the opposition.
“We had to revert to the drawing board and consider several concepts. About five different ideas were floated as to how we would stop the calf kick. What do we use as a calf kick on our foot? Mostly your metatarsals and ankle’s curvature are to blame. It will injure the person kicking that if we can check that once or twice. Make this a deterrent, then.
“That’s what he did, for sure as shit. Sean was able to check one or two before the area became crowded once more.
In UFC 293 Strickland faced Adesanya, who was a betting favourite at more than -700, as a big +450 underdog. According to several pundits, Strickland had just a slim chance of winning. However, Strickland ultimately won that fight thanks to his unconventional fighting style and top-notch coach in MMA.
