Eric Nicksick has had a year for the books. Two fighters he coaches have made history and shocked the combat sports world. Sean Strickland utterly outclassed middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, to become the new champion at UFC 293 earlier this year. This came as a shock to the UFC world, with some such as Joe Rogan left in shock as ‘Tarzan’ dropped Adesanya in the first round.

Not as shocking, however, as his fighter Francis Ngannou giving a spectacular performance against Tyson Fury, dropping the lineal boxing heavyweight champion in the third round. The former UFC heavyweight champion lost a close, controversial one-point decision to Fury, which many feel should have gone the Cameroonian’s way. However, the time for celebration seems to be over as Strickland gears up to face Chechen juggernaut Khamzat Chimaev for his first title defense. And Nicksick has hinted at the venue for the as-of-yet-unannounced bout in an interview with the Weighing In podcast.

Sean Strickland coach on where he will fight Khamzat Chimaev

Nicksick joined former UFC fighter Josh Thomson and long-time MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy to talk about Strickland vs. Chimaev. He was asked by Thomson where the bout would take place, given that Chimaev is prevented from traveling freely to the United States because of his Russian passport. He said that Strickland, being an American champion, wanted to defend his title in the US.

“Sean doesn’t want to go and fight outside really, from what I understand. Hopefully [its] in the States. I actually talked to Sean tonight about some of this stuff as well and he’s like ‘Man like I’m American, dude. Like, why would you have me defend my title anywhere but America, you know?’. Nicksick told the Weighing In podcast on YouTube.

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On the basis of his conversation with Strickland on the subject, Nicksick felt the bout should be in a red-blooded American in Texas, Arizona, Florida or a city like Las Vegas. “It should be Texas, it should be Arizona, [or] Florida, Las Vegas, something along those lines,” he added.

However, given that ‘Borz’ will not be able to travel to the States, the distinguished coach did suggest a compromise at a neutral venue, which Strickland might agree to.

Nicksick suggests a compromise-neutral venue

Nicksick, however, did suggest that the middleweight champion might compromise and fight in a ‘neutral’ venue such as Canada. UFC 297 is scheduled for December next and will be held at Toronto, Canada. However, it is unlikely that it will be headlined by the middleweight title bout as it will be barely three months from Chimaev’s last no. one contender bout against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

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“But it’s interesting because I feel like a lot of these cards don’t have a really big headliner or true headliner that are coming up. So, I can imagine Sean, maybe even [doing] Canada. That might be a neutral option if you will,” he said.

Where do you think should the title bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland take place? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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