From UFC Connected, Eric Nicksick opens up about how coaching fighters gave him a second chance ahead of Sean Strickland’s …
lifetime Las Vegas Eric nixic has dedicated his life to the success of others most recently as the head coach as legendary gym extreme Couture that hard work has paid off in Hardware the crowning of Francis inganu as the heavyweight King added Championship status to nixik’s list of accolades and he leads a growing crop of formidable athletes who are all looking to follow suit Eric shares his experiences as the driving force behind the world’s best fighters in Coach’s Corner good I got into this sport kind of just trying to find a void in my life just kind of stumbled across the place and I saw a bunch of tough dudes getting after it I felt like that camaraderie that Vibe just the individuals working to achieve a common goal was what I needed in my life I was coaching classes and coaching some some young up and coming Fighters at the time and then it was Randy that was sitting there Randy Couture and he said look man I think you have a path here I like for you to be able to take over as the gym manager here you know I messed up a lot as a kid you know I was in a little bit of trouble in college and I came up to bite me I missed out on a lot of good opportunities in my athletic career and I think I coached my fighters in a way that I feel like I owed it to the younger version of myself because of the things that I messed up get geared up get a drink of water let’s get ready to go I see a lot of fighters in my gym that really remind me of myself when I was that age fate Universe God whatever puts me in that position to help them realize their full potential and be able to accomplish their goals and help them kind of navigate through this process [Music] I really want to get to know my Fighters and understand what makes them tick and that’s Sweat Equity man that’s just being around them understanding what got them into the sport because scrambles let’s cover a foot understanding their journey and why they’re here what do they fight for who do they fight for finding all those little things makes you pull that out in you know round five or going into round three when you need that moment there are many different personalities in this sport you’re not going to coach Francis Nagano the same way you coach Sean Strickland that makes your friend you’re always trying to find the perfect match between coach and fighter that’s only going to make the relationship better oh Danny there goes Danny I think styles of the fighter are very important as a coach because you don’t want to type cast or pigeonhole fighter they are who they are for a reason because at the end of the day in MMA the word a stands for Arts good idea the other artists you have to let them maintain their creative control okay aljo give me a little jog put those hands up that’s your rounds baby the night of the fight for me is pretty relaxing you know I want to stay nice and loose your fighter is going to feed off of your energy I try to keep a calm cool approach and you can feel that energy and even in the room will start shaking out as the warm-up goes or the hands getting taped and the music starts to change you know the environment starts to change right before we walk I remind myself there’s no place I’d rather be [Music] at one point early on in my career I believe it was one of Brad’s forest’s fights he was fighting the MGM Grand and I’m born and raised in Las Vegas but I’m glad my dad called me before he said hey I want you to take a second and look around and take it all in your Fighters fighting at the MGM Grand I’ve done that every time since any Arena I’ve ever been at whether it’s been the Apex you know Abu Dhabi I’ve taken a second just to look around and take it all in I want to remember those moments even if it’s just a couple seconds two or three seconds and then once that Bell Rings it just becomes tunnel vision for me very very high stakes fight for the featherweight division oh big left hook there by ige that connected I think your approach needs to change in coaching quite a bit depending on the fighter and what they need to hear I can look at Danny gay and mere sod back to one one going into three and another tough second round for Dan ige ige hits the stool hey five minutes out of you yep sir five minutes out of you Dan he does not want it more than you if he does not want that more than you do you understand me yes sir we always had a saying what are you doing around three what do you do around three come on let’s go on your toes let’s go let’s go let’s go that was a moment I feel like you just were able to get it out of Dan yeah [Applause] oh big connection with the left [Music] DK was a big punch and a kick to the body Francis think on his cereal gone perhaps down two nil at one point it was 2-2 going in around five hey hey look at him look how tired he is so much together this this is you let’s go oh boy [Applause] and wouldn’t that be something if Francis and Gano leaned on his wrestling and grappling to successfully defend his title and it looks as though in Gano will end the fight in a relatively dominant position incredible what a rally from encano after a tough start it wasn’t really much of an adjustment but I think just delivering the right message at times I think that’s what makes a great coach finding that thing that lights a fire in their ass to go out and pull out a victory my most memorable title fight in the UFC was Francis versus Stipe and I think a lot of that was because of the first fight and the outcome that happened in the first fight beautiful time takedown and goto just does not know exactly how to get up here for the winner and a lot of the doubt that he wasn’t going to be able to execute really any game plan and Stephen was going to pretty much walk right over him all the people next door they prepared him for exactly the challenges that he faced in the first fight the question is is he ready watching Francis to go execute exactly what we wanted it was like playing a video game I remember being like throw this level and he threw it and it landed early shot from Steve Bay this is big he was like do this heavy heavy get to the back good break that leg down break that leg down step around guys now we go it was so cool it was like the closest I’ve ever been to playing a video game and having the best character in the game last night turn on middle yes [Music] [Applause] it’s the best feeling in the world when you see your fighter get a win and I just I love that moment Batman Couture he’s learned and now he’s the heavyweight champion of the world [Music] we are individual sport once the cage door closes but you’re only as good as the team that you surround yourself with having that team around you is the most important part and sometimes it takes somebody outside of your circle to believe in you the way that I think a coach does for me I love to be able to help Shepherd people in achieving their goals the love that I share for my Fighters is only going to make me better and keep me where I’m at today