Following his chaotic performance at UFC 312, Sean Strickland will most likely team up with a new set of instructors for his next bout. After the rematch with Dricus du Plessis, the former middleweight champion took to Twitter to address his shortcomings and those of Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick, who had previously called Strickland's performance "very underwhelming" and "uninspiring" in an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. Even though Strickland says he and Nicksick will stay friends as long as he trains at Xtreme Couture, the seasoned coach probably won't be on his side again. A video of Strickland's comments on Eric Nicksick was shared on Twitter. I consider him a friend, and I intend for that to remain true. Do you think he'll likely support me? I highly doubt it. At Xtreme [Couture], there are a lot of fantastic guys—Nate Pettit, Ray Sefo, and many savages—that I would want to corner. However, the whole combat camp was merely a battle. There was a tremendous fight. If we didn't win, or if we did win, we can always find an excuse. Excuses are nothing compared to what we all have. Because Eric went and became an influencer through a podcast, I feel compelled to explain myself in this video. After du Plessis brought it up during fight week, Strickland confessed that he had a staph infection and a broken bone in his arm just a few months before the fight. Although Strickland was obviously shaken by the whole thing, he trained as if he were going to seize the chance to avenge himself on du Plessis and regain the UFC middleweight championship. Despite the fact that he knew he was bad, Strickland insisted that the entire camp was an exercise in self-deception. I underwent stem cell treatment for a fractured bone in Colombia eight weeks before my expected return home. The fact that the bone has healed is not an excuse, but it does keep you thinking about it. After training with Reinier de Ridder—"that submission guy"—I believed my arm had cracked when he hit me with a whizzer; my arm was already fractured. My arm felt like it had snapped; I must visit Colombia. This is absolutely messed up. With the belief that he could recover for the fight, Strickland persisted through the many challenges he encountered during training camp. Regrettably, that was not accomplished. You keep telling yourself, 'I'm f*cking good,' and I guess this is what all males do, Strickland said, but this is just in the back of your head throughout camp. "Every man does this. You see yourself in the mirror and think, "I'm f*cking good, you're a f*cking man, you sack up," even though you know you're not really good. The whole camp was affected, though, by the staph infection, the broken arm, the visa application process that took a full week to be accepted, and the inability to send cornermen to the fight. The whole camp felt like a constant battle of "sack up" when I looked in the mirror and realized how bad I was. Regardless of the criticisms leveled against him, Strickland is aware that he wasn't at his best during the fight, but he will not use it as an excuse going forward. Strickland refused to back down until the final horn sounded, even after du Plessis broke his nose and blood began to flow down his face. "The guy showed up and fought him off; there was no involvement from Dricus," Strickland stated. My nose was f*cking broken. Absolute yes. Kudos to you for fighting like a man. In that round, I f*cking fractured my nose three times, but I never gave up. I didn't take a seat on the stool and claim I couldn't fight because my nose was broken. Each time, I made the necessary adjustments. I was thinking, "Maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe I won't." But, hey, everyone has a tale, and nobody really cares. I am thankful for the life I have. The work I do is rewarding. My admirers mean the world to me. Your support for me is reciprocated by my support for you all. Put on your gym clothes again and move on to the next one. The UFC middleweight title was a major draw for the bout, but according to Strickland, he has never been one to care about such things. No matter the result of his bout with du Plessis, Strickland will continue to derive much more satisfaction from boxing than only winning championship belts. The reason Strickland fought was not to "put belts on the wall," he stated. Eric wants to go make a nice podcast, so I don't fight. I don't fight for that reason. I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror before I fought; my self-esteem was so low. When I initially began battling, I had no idea what it meant to have dignity. So much of what I know now I picked up in fights. The people I've met are truly remarkable. You f*cking people have altered my life through the UFC and fight fans. It f*cking transformed my life. I fight because you helped me develop so much as a person, both during and after our fights. I just adore it. My contract still has plenty of fights left. Battling is something I thoroughly like. A return to the gym is in my future. I am putting in a ton of time and effort, but I am beginning all over again. Life is like that sometimes.