Sean Strickland’s coach highlights area where they can “create some havoc” in Dricus Du Plessis rematch

Eric Nicksick, the head coach of Sean Strickland, believes there is one area they can “create some havoc” in a rematch with Dricus Du Plessis.

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA) successfully defended his middleweight title for the first time at last weekend’s UFC 305 event, scoring a fourth-round submission victory over former champion Israel Adesanya (see that here).

Prior to the South African earning his first career title defense, UFC CEO Dana White had announced that the winner of ‘Du Plessis vs. Adesanya’ would be fighting Sean Strickland (29-6 MMA) next.

“Sean Strickland right now is the number one ranked middleweight in the world and the answer is yes (he will fight for the title next).” White said during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show.

Strickland and Du Plessis originally collided for the undisputed middleweight title at UFC 297 in Toronto in January of this year. The result was a hotly debated split decision victory for ‘DDP’, who edged out ‘Tarzan’ on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

With a rematch against Dricus Du Plessis now on the horizon, Sean Strickland’s head coach Eric Nicksick has shared one area he believes his pupil can find some success in their second go around.

“The one thing I will bring up that I feel like Sean doesn’t give himself enough credit for – so when Dricus took Sean down, there was some transitional grappling, things that I want to see Sean implement a little bit more. Sean never was really held down, we were never like taken down and laid on our back but there, Sean’s really good at hitting the switch and Sean’s really good at counterbalancing and taking the back to where I think Sean could implement a little ground and pound and top pressure himself.”

Nicksick continued (h/t MMANews):

“Anecdotally looking back at what Brad (Tavares) did, when Brad fought Dricus, Brad got on top and Brad rode Dricus all of the first round. So, I think Dricus is a very good topside grappler, but I don’t think he’s that great off his back. So, I’m not saying we need to go and initiate the wrestling but if the wrestling does happen, I think Sean can reverse those positions and get on top and create some havoc up there.”

Who do you think will emerge victorious when Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis collide for a second time, likely in early 2025?