Alex Poatan was perplexed by Sean Strickland's performance, says coach

Alex Poatán for Strickland's corner in the main fight of the UFC 312. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Despite the bravery of Sean Strickland to stay in the fight against Dricus du Plessis Even with a broken nose, this was not enough to win the middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg). In the corner of the challenger, Alex Poatán expected more from Strickland, according to the American's head coach.

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The fight didn't go exactly as the Brazilian would have liked. According to Eric Nicksick, the light heavyweight champion (up to 93kg) was perplexed by what he saw inside the octagon. In a interview No. 'The Ariel helwani Show', the coach spoke about the presence of Alex Poatán on the edge of cage.

“He’s a cool guy, like, he’s just intimidating. He was cool. He leaned over a couple of times and he was like, ‘What’s going on with Sean?’ He’s cool, he’s got a lot of great insight. I love having him there,” Nicksick said.

“A lot of people thought he flew out there to be Sean’s corner, but that wasn’t the case. He was already there. That’s why we wanted him in the corner. He was already there. He was already an asset to us,” he revealed.

Sean Strickland disappointed coach

Eric Nicksick in an interview with Ariel Helwani. Photo: Reproduction

In the same interview, Nicksick also revealed his own assessment of his fighter's performance in Australia. While many coaches shy away from publicly criticizing their own trainees, the 'Xtreme Couture' head coach did not take that route. Eric clearly criticized Strickland, saying his performance was "uninspiring."