Sean Strickland’s coach addresses social media dispute with Manel Kape

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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MAY 09: Sean Strickland reacts after a split-decision victory against Khamzat Chimaev of Russia in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 328 event at Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Eric Nicksick has been part of the fight game for over two decades – so he’s seen it all. Following Manel Kape’s stoppage win over Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119, reports started flying in on social media regarding an alleged dustup between Nicksick, Kape’s head coach, and the surging flyweight’s manager Ali Abdelaziz. Nicksick was asked about the rumor and innuendo surrounding it, and said it’s just another Saturday night in the fight game. “Honestly, like we’re brothers, man,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “We’ve known each other for a long time. We’ve had arguments before in the past. It’s just unfortunate. He was upset about some things that really I had nothing to do with, so I was defensive and he was defensive, I didn’t even think anything of it, bro. It wasn’t that big of a deal. “I know that, because of the setting, it got blown up more than it needed to be. But all in all, dude, we’re fine. It’s not a big deal. We smoothed it out real quick. Yeah, that was that.” Nicksick was a bit surprised stories began circulating because of how commonplace it is in the industry. As far as their relationship, Nicksick says everything couldn’t be better between the two. “It’s like getting in an argument with your wife, but you’re doing it in your house, and like the rest of the world doesn’t know about it, and then you’re like, all right, we’re good the next day,” Nicksick explained. “That’s typically what happens with all of our guys. Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis will be in here fighting all the time and whatever else, but we love each other and we have too much to lose, man. “We have so many guys that we share and we’ve got Manel right on the cusp of a title fight. To Ali’s credit, man, he called me, he’s like, ‘Hey, dude, I made a mistake. I’m sorry I put you in that position. I love you, bro.’ We went to dinner. Everything’s fine.” That situation appeared to have caused a bit of a rift between Kape and his teammate, and UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland as both fighters began trading barbs on social media. Nicksick was asked how the relationship is between the two fighters, and ultimately points the finger at himself for not trying to mediate the situation with his athletes. “I need to be better at like mending those fences, too,” Nicksick said. “I need to make sure that like… we’re all under the same roof. I coach both of those guys. If there’s an issue between those guys, then I need to step in and help mediate that stuff. But that all stems from some of that Ali stuff that really… when I look at a situation like that, I got to point the blame to myself and make sure that like all these guys are on the same page under the same roof, right? “So Sean’s been gone for like two weeks. He’s been in Florida, so everything’s been smooth.”

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Eric Nicksick coaches both Sean Strickland and Manel Kape