Off Guard: Eric Nicksick explains importance of being on 'same wavelength' as Dan Ige, others
LAS VEGAS – Despite his fine work behind the scenes, Eric Nisick hasn’t been one to chase the spotlight.
However, at UFC 247, Nicksick found himself in the national spotlight. Cornering UFC featherweight contender Dan Ige against Mirsad Bektic, Xtreme Couture frontman Nicksick gave a fiery speech in between rounds. The dialogue caught many viewers’ attention.
“Hey, five (expletive) minutes out of you,” Nicksick told Ige after giving technical advice. “Five (expletive) minutes out of you, Dan. He does not want it more than you. He does not want that (expletive) more than you. Do you understand me? What do you do in Round 3?”
“(Expletive) him up,” Ige responded, on cue.
While the speech was captured on camera, the corner work wasn’t out of the ordinary, Nicksick told MMA Junkie. The attention the clip received is a testament to the understanding he shares between himself and his fighters.
“That particular moment came out well because it got its shine,” Nicksick told MMA Junke. “The cameras were on, and the mics were on. (There) was a human element behind it. Having Dan’s dad in the corner, he’s a motivational man as it is. We were just very pumped all week long. We didn’t get the respect we thought we deserved.
“Everything was tailored to fighting a Tristar guy and, ‘What’s it like fighting this top contender?’ Really nothing was being said much about Dan Ige. Nothing much was being said about Xtreme Couture. I think we were kind of the red-headed stepchild in the situation. It was bulletin board material for us, and it fired us up.”
Every fighter operates differently, Nicksick said. A coach’s responsibility is to understand which buttons to push and when. In that moment, Ige needed to be fired up – so that’s what Nicksick did.
“Dan and I have been together for nine fights now,” Nicksick said. “There’s a lot of sweat equity involved in that. What was said in the corner was something very intertwined between Dan and myself. Something I say to do might not work for Francis (Ngannou) or another fighter. That’s kind of a product of us being so close and so on each other’s same wavelength. I know what he needs to hear, when he needs to hear it and vice versa. We push each other very much. He’s made me a better coach, and I think I’ve made him a better fighter.”
Check out MMA Junkie catch Nicksick “off guard” in the video above – and check out a clip of Nicksick’s UFC 247 corner work below: