Nicksick downplays Strickland-Kape social media feud as title fight looms for flyweight

Eric Nicksick has moved to defuse the social media feud between UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and flyweight contender Manel Kape, tracing the friction back to a brief backstage argument with manager Ali Abdelaziz at UFC Vegas 119 — an incident Nicksick insists was quickly resolved.

Kape stopped Kyoji Horiguchi at the event, but the night generated headlines beyond the result when reports emerged of a heated exchange between Nicksick and Abdelaziz. Nicksick, who coaches both Kape and Strickland, told MMA Fighting the episode was far less dramatic than it appeared online.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. We’ve had arguments before in the past,” Nicksick said. “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. We smoothed it out real quick.”

Nicksick compared the situation to a domestic disagreement that only becomes news because it happened in a public setting. He confirmed Abdelaziz called him shortly after to apologise, and the two went to dinner to clear the air.

“Ali called me, he’s like, ‘Hey, dude, I made a mistake. I’m sorry I put you in that position. I love you, bro,’” Nicksick recalled. “We went to dinner. Everything’s fine.”

The fallout, however, appeared to spill over into the relationship between Kape and Strickland, who began trading barbs on social media in the days that followed. Nicksick acknowledged he should have stepped in sooner to prevent the public back-and-forth between two fighters who share the same gym.

“I need to be better at mending those fences,” Nicksick said. “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. I got to point the blame to myself and make sure that all these guys are on the same page under the same roof.”

Nicksick noted that Strickland had been away in Florida for roughly two weeks, which had allowed things to settle down in the interim. With Kape now on the cusp of a flyweight title shot, Nicksick is keen to ensure gym harmony is restored before any bigger fights materialise.