Nicksick says Abdelaziz feud is squashed after backstage punch at UFC event

Eric Nicksick has declared his public feud with Ali Abdelaziz finished, saying the manager apologised after allegedly throwing a punch at him backstage following Manel Kape’s victory over Kyoji Horiguchi last month. The Xtreme Couture head coach addressed the incident in an interview with Ariel Helwani, downplaying its severity while acknowledging it had spilled into public view.

Nicksick, who coaches Kape — a fighter managed by Abdelaziz — said the two have a long-standing relationship that regularly involves heated arguments. “We’ve been friends for 15 years. We argue, we fight, we bicker and we literally roll over the next day,” Nicksick told Helwani. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

The coach said the altercation became notable only because it happened in front of others, contrasting it with the pair’s usual private disputes. “You get arguing with your wife, it happens in the house. This happened more in front of people, so it became more out in public,” he explained, adding that the original flashpoint was a disagreement over an Argentina versus Egypt football match.

As for the punch Abdelaziz allegedly threw before being escorted out by security, Nicksick was dismissive: “Nothing that affected me.” He credited Abdelaziz for taking responsibility. “To his credit, he said, ‘Look, dude, I’m sorry, I made a mistake.’ I’m a man; he’s a man; I think forgiveness needs to be something that we practice a lot more.”

Nicksick also acknowledged that a separate online feud between Kape and UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland contributed to the tension. Both fighters train at Xtreme Couture, but Strickland has been publicly critical of Abdelaziz, prompting Kape to defend his manager. Nicksick suggested miscommunications between parties in the room helped escalate what might otherwise have remained a private disagreement.

“There’s some things that are lost in translation, amongst other guys in the room that need to get squared away,” he said. “But it’s all squashed. We have too much to lose, man. We have too many guys in common. We’re all good.”