Sean Strickland has never been known for keeping team matters private, which is why his recent remarks about his longtime coach Eric Nicksick are so revealing ahead of UFC 328. While most fighters spend fight week praising their camps and talking about unity, ‘Tarzan’ did what he usually does: he told the truth as he saw it, even if it made awkward headlines.

This time, he questioned whether his coach truly understood fighting at the deepest level, given his career or lack thereof. Speaking candidly at the UFC 328 media scrum, Strickland described his relationship with Nicksick as “mixed” before drawing a clear contrast between coaching and actual fighting experience.

“Me and Eric have a mixed relationship where it’s like, I’ll say this tactfully, if you’ve never fought or been in the gym, you don’t have an understanding,” Strickland said. “Eric is a good coach; he’s a good striking coach, but if you’ve never fought, you just don’t understand.”

Though today he serves as a head coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Eric Nicksick never actually had an MMA career, both amateur and professional. He was a college football star who famously helped UFC legend Randy Couture when he started the now-renowned MMA gym. While it wasn’t a full-fledged attack on him, it was undeniably a jab at Nicksick’s fight career—especially coming from a man prepping him for one of the biggest title fights of his career as he faces Khamzat Chimaev this Saturday.

The comment also explains why their relationship has been so rough. Sean Strickland revealed that he previously entered a title fight with a broken arm without informing his coach, a move that probably further soured his relationship with Eric Nicksick.

“I don’t really talk much,” he added. “I don’t tell my problems to people, so I think Eric felt a little upset that I was going into a title fight with a broken arm and he had no knowledge of it.”

Most fighter-coach relationships would suffer as a result of such a distance, and the bond between ‘Tarzan’ and his coach too has seen massive ups and downs. However, these two continue to find their way back to each other.

Perhaps this is because, despite the tension, criticism, and occasional fallout, there is still trust—just expressed in a way only Sean Strickland could make sound like conflict. Now, that trust will be put to the test again, as ‘Tarzan’ is likely going to face something he has never faced before.

Khamzat Chimaev will possibly be the first ever to try and submit Sean Strickland

UFC 328 presents Sean Strickland with a puzzle unlike any he has faced in over a decade inside the Octagon. Not just a dangerous striker or a high-pressure fighter, Khamzat Chimaev is a champion whose natural tendency is to drag opponents into deep grappling waters and look for the finish.

And that creates a fascinating piece of history around ‘Tarzan.’ Nobody has ever attempted to submit him in over 24 UFC fights in a 12-year professional MMA career. Not once. Fighters have outstruck him, knocked him down, and taken him to decisions, but no one has put him in a situation where submissions are a threat.

Reacting to the same stat at the UFC 328 media day this Wednesday evening, Sean Strickland attributed the statistic to the fact that he has ‘only fought men’ so far in his career.

“That may be because I’ve only fought men,” he said. “I don’t know. I mean, dude, submissions are f—— g– dude, they’re f—— g–.

“I’m sad that I potentially have to deal with a guy who wants to dry hump my leg. I’m also never really in a position for guys to do submissions; I don’t wanna go on my back, I’m not into that s—.”

But Khamzat Chimaev changes the equation. He has tried submissions against nearly every fighter he has faced in the UFC, has many tapout wins, and recently shattered Robert Whittaker‘s jaw with a nasty face crank that reminded the division of his deadly grappling ability.

If anyone is going to test Strickland’s undisturbed submission record, it is most certainly ‘Borz.’ And if ‘Tarzan’ weathers the storm, as Joe Rogan predicted that he might, it may tell us more about his toughness than any five-round war ever could.