Eric Nicksick
At a glance
- General manager and head coach of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, head coach since November 2017.
- Three UFC champions under his guidance: Francis Ngannou, Aljamain Sterling and Sean Strickland.
- Former college football player and the gym's first official member when it opened to the public.
Overview
Eric Nicksick was born in 1979 and grew up in Henderson, Nevada, in a family of coaches. An all-state wide receiver at Green Valley High School, he played college football at the University of Nevada, Reno and then Dixie State before a series of concussions ended his playing days.
In late 2006 he walked into Xtreme Couture, Randy Couture's gym, and became its first official member when it opened to the public. He worked his way up to general manager, then became head coach after Robert Follis left in November 2017.
What you'll find
On Instagram, Nicksick shares daily life at the gym and his fighters' camps. He also appears regularly in MMA media to walk through his game plans.
He has explained, for example, that he studied Israel Adesanya's fights against Alex Pereira to build Sean Strickland's strategy for UFC 293, with a simple instruction in the corner: keep the pressure and the pace no matter what.
Why follow
Three of his fighters have won UFC titles. Aljamain Sterling won the bantamweight title at UFC 259 in 2021 with Nicksick in his corner alongside Ray Longo. Francis Ngannou, who moved to Las Vegas from MMA Factory in Paris, knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 the same year and then beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. Sean Strickland beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in 2023.
Before that, he was Robert Follis's second in command when Miesha Tate submitted Holly Holm at UFC 196. He has also worked with Cody Garbrandt, Dan Ige, Chris Curtis and Manel Kape, and he was in Ngannou's corner for his boxing match against Tyson Fury.
MMA Official's take
Nicksick is a fit for athletes and coaches who want to see how a top American gym prepares a fighter for a title fight. His content is in English and built around his athletes and their preparation.
Start by following his Instagram during fight week for one of his fighters, then look up his post-fight interviews, where he breaks down what the team worked on in camp and why.