Daniel Cormier disagrees with Sean Strickland's coach: 'You don't get to coach all world champs'
Daniel Cormier understands Eric Nicksick's frustration towards Sean Strickland at UFC 312, but disagrees with one thing.
Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) lost a dominant unanimous decision to middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in this past Saturday's main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
Nicksick was bothered with Strickland's lack of sense of urgency after being down in the fight, which led him to publicly say that he needs to evaluate what he wants to do in the sport. The Xtreme Couture head coach said he wants to coach world champions, and that's what Cormier disagrees with.
'The only area that I think coach Nicksick was wrong was that I want to coach world champs,' Cormier said on his YouTube channel. 'Not everyone is going to be a world champ. You don't get to coach all world champs. You coach world champions, you coach guys that might get to the Contender Series and lose, you coach guys that might get to an LFA title and that might be it.
'You might get a guy that comes to the UFC, has a cup of tea, 0-2, and he's out. So, you don't just get to coach world champions. I get the thought of what he's saying, but not everybody gets there. Make that your goal, but I don't know if publicly you say that. But any great coach will have words for their athlete.'
Strickland revealed that Nicksick will no longer be in his corner, but the pair will remain friends. Cormier finds that odd, even though he thinks Nicksick's harsh criticism towards Strickland's performance was warranted.
'I don't blame coach,' Cormier said. 'I think any great coach needs to judge their athletes fairly, but very harsh whenever they don't compete to the ability that you expect them to because if you don't, who's going to? Especially in a world where most people are saying yes.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Makhachev ‘Definitely Gonna Run' From Buckley
Islam Makhachev always wanted to compete at 170 pounds. That's why the former lightweight champion is giving up his 155-pound title to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight strap. But Makhachev may have a change of heart when he realizes his first title defense will come against knockout artist Joaquin Buckley. Advertisement Assuming 'New Mansa' gets past Kamaru Usman in the UFC Atlanta main event. 'So once I beat Kamaru Usman, there is no debate, there is no back-and-forth, there is no argument — we up next,' Buckley said on YouTube. 'You got this guy from 155 coming up thinking he gonna take my spot. We can't have it. The JDM fight and Islam fight is not a massive fight to make. I truly believe that Islam gotta sit back and just wait for me to get my title because I will be the hardest fight that Islam has. He's not gonna out-wrestle me. He's not gonna submit me. I never been submitted in my career — and he's definitely not gonna stand on the feet with me.' I doubt anyone wants to stand with Buckley after watching this. 'If the people wanna see it, it's gonna be made,' Buckley continued. 'If Islam does get blessed with that title shot, and he does beat JDM, he's not gonna stay there. He's gonna retire. He's gonna get up outta there because he knows he's not a natural 170 fighter. And especially with myself, he's definitely gonna run from a person like me.' Advertisement UFC has yet to make Makhachev vs. Della Maddalena official. The 31 year-old Buckley (21-6) has won six straight with four knockouts and currently sits at No. 7 in the official welterweight rankings. Other aspiring contenders include the No. 6-ranked Ian Garry, as well as the No. 2-ranked Sean Brady. But the next 170-pound title shot may depend on the return of this surgically-repaired 'Nomad.' As for Buckley, he's not going anywhere if the injected Usman has anything to say about it. More from
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
UFC on ESPN 69: Kamaru Usman sees 'pretty simple' path to win two UFC titles
ATLANTA – Does Kamaru Usman still have UFC title aspirations? If you answered yes, take that and double it. UFC on ESPN 69 takes place Saturday at State Farm Arena and marks the first competition for Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in nearly two years as he battles Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the main event. Although he's on a three-fight skid at 38 years old, Usman hasn't been deterred from the goal he's had his entire career: to be the best. Advertisement "My path there is pretty simple," Usman told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. "I'll just lay out the map here. It's finish Buckley this weekend and then wait for the winner of, I believe, Islam (Makhachev) and JDM (Jack Della Maddalena), which is going to be an incredible fight. It's such a great thing now having Islam come up into the division. Who wouldn't buy a ticket to that? Former pound-for-pound and current pound-for-pound (fighting). I love Islam. Islam is a great fighter. I think that's something that we'd both remember forever." But the aspirations don't stop there. Usman not only wants to return to the place he once was, holding gold atop the UFC welterweight division, no. He wants to take it further. Middleweight gold is also on his mind. "(I'd) win that and go ahead and probably vacate, go up," Usman said. "Myself (vs.) Dricus Du Plessis, if he is the champion, or Khamzat Chimaev, too, if Dricus is no longer the champion, we do that. If Dricus is the champion, we do that in the first card in Africa. That's another blockbuster. These are back-to-back blockbuster fights you tell your grandkids about. Who wouldn't watch those? After that, now you're sitting with two belts. It's like, 'What do we do next?' That's, I'd say, the long-term goal in the back of my mind." Usman is widely considered one of the best welterweights in MMA history. He defended the title five times during his reign that stretched from March 2019 to August 2022 when Leon Edwards' head kick brought it to an abrupt end. Usman then lost a trilogy bout vs. Edwards by unanimous decision. His most recent competition came in October 2023 when he lost a close middleweight fight to Chimaev. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Atlanta: Kamaru Usman sees 'pretty simple' path to win two titles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
UFC on ESPN 69: Kamaru Usman sees 'pretty simple' path to win two UFC titles
UFC on ESPN 69: Kamaru Usman sees 'pretty simple' path to win two UFC titles ATLANTA – Does Kamaru Usman still have UFC title aspirations? If you answered yes, take that and double it. UFC on ESPN 69 takes place Saturday at State Farm Arena and marks the first competition for Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in nearly two years as he battles Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the main event. Although he's on a three-fight skid at 38 years old, Usman hasn't been deterred from the goal he's had his entire career: to be the best. "My path there is pretty simple," Usman told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. "I'll just lay out the map here. It's finish Buckley this weekend and then wait for the winner of, I believe, Islam (Makhachev) and JDM (Jack Della Maddalena), which is going to be an incredible fight. It's such a great thing now having Islam come up into the division. Who wouldn't buy a ticket to that? Former pound-for-pound and current pound-for-pound (fighting). I love Islam. Islam is a great fighter. I think that's something that we'd both remember forever." But the aspirations don't stop there. Usman not only wants to return to the place he once was, holding gold atop the UFC welterweight division, no. He wants to take it further. Middleweight gold is also on his mind. "(I'd) win that and go ahead and probably vacate, go up," Usman said. "Myself (vs.) Dricus Du Plessis, if he is the champion, or Khamzat Chimaev, too, if Dricus is no longer the champion, we do that. If Dricus is the champion, we do that in the first card in Africa. That's another blockbuster. These are back-to-back blockbuster fights you tell your grandkids about. Who wouldn't watch those? After that, now you're sitting with two belts. It's like, 'What do we do next?' That's, I'd say, the long-term goal in the back of my mind." Usman is widely considered one of the best welterweights in MMA history. He defended the title five times during his reign that stretched from March 2019 to August 2022 when Leon Edwards' head kick brought it to an abrupt end. Usman then lost a trilogy bout vs. Edwards by unanimous decision. His most recent competition came in October 2023 when he lost a close middleweight fight to Chimaev.
