For many fans and even Dana White, it was Sean Strickland who won the first encounter against Dricus du Plessis in a title-losing effort. But the former champion is back to avenge that loss at UFC 312, and hopefully become a 2-time middleweight champion in Australia. Strickland has all the tools to make an impact this weekend, with a great team backing the 33-year-old.

When Sean Strickland won the middleweight title at UFC 293, in a fight where he was the underdog, a large chunk of credit goes to his coaches and his teammates. So, ahead of his big-time rematch, let’s get to know the team behind ‘Tarzan’.

All about Sean Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick

Sean Strickland, known for his unique and unusual style of fighting that can best be described as the MMA version of the ‘Philly Shell’ boxing style, trains under coach Eric Nicksick at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. His coach has trained the cream of the crop when it comes to MMA, and has been pretty successful in training Strickland to become a world champion.

The way Eric Nicksick trains his fighters, those methods have earned praise from numerous personalities in the MMA community. From his knowledge of striking to his tactical intelligence – Nicksick’s background in fighting has shaped him up to be one of the very best coaches the sport has ever seen. But besides a world-class coach, Sean Strickland also has world-class teammates. So, let’s take a look at that front.

Sean Strickland’s gym Xtreme Couture and teammates

As we’ve mentioned already, Sean Strickland trains at Xtreme Couture, founded by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, with Nicksick training notable MMA fighters such as Francis Ngannou, Dan Ige, Miesha Tate, and Chris Curtis, who are thus stablemates of ‘Tarzan. Notably, before his Adesanya fight, the American trained with two-division UFC and former Glory champion, Alex Pereira. The latter had defeated Israel Adesanya in their first UFC fight and the training seemed to have helped ‘Tarzan’ beat ‘Izzy’. Interestingly, ‘Poatan’ will be concerning Strickland in his rematch against Dricus du Plessis.

Also, Sean Strickland’s gym is home to a number of MMA world champions. Besides the aforementioned Francis Ngannou and the founder Randy Couture, Xtreme Couture has seven other world champions, mostly UFC champs, which also includes the 33-year-old Strickland. It’s no wonder why he has grown to be a pretty tough fighter over the years since he first joined Dana White’s promotion.

Throughout his professional MMA career of 29 wins and 6 losses, the middleweight champion has used his elite, high-volume striking, and toughness to reach the highest levels of the sport. Given that Strickland went toe-to-toe against Dricus du Plessis in their last fight, there is a high probability that this fight will turn out to be an exciting one for the fans as well. Let us know what you think about the fight in the comments down below.