​Eric Nicksick has spent more than twenty years in the fight game, so he’s seen just about everything. After Manel Kape’s stoppage win over Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119, rumors flooded social media about a supposed run-in between Nicksick, Kape’s head coach, and Ali Abdelaziz, the flyweight contender’s manager. When asked about the whispers, Nicksick downplayed them, calling it simply another Saturday night in this world.
“Honestly, we’re like brothers,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “We’ve known each other a long time. We’ve had disagreements before. It’s just unfortunate. He was upset about some things I wasn’t involved with, so I defended myself and he defended himself, and I didn’t think it was a big deal. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Nicksick suggested the incident gained more traction than it deserved because of the setting, but insisted that everything between them was fine and that they had moved past it quickly. “We smoothed it out real quick. Yeah, that was that.”
He also noted how common such exchanges are in the industry. Regarding his relationship with Kape, he said things couldn’t be better. “It’s like getting into an argument with your wife, but you’re doing it at home, and the rest of the world doesn’t know about it, and then you’re good the next day,” he explained. “That’s usually how it goes with all of our guys. Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis argue here all the time, but we love each other and we have too much to lose. We’ve got so many fighters we share, and Manel is right on the brink of a title shot. To Ali’s credit, he called me and said, ‘Hey, man, I made a mistake. I’m sorry I put you in that position. I love you, bro.’ We went to dinner, and everything’s fine.”
The episode seemingly created a rift between Kape and his teammate, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, as both fighters traded barbs on social media. When asked about the dynamic between the two fighters, Nicksick put the onus on himself, admitting he should have done more to mediate the situation among his athletes. “I need to be better at mending fences, too,” he said. “I have to make sure we’re all under the same roof. I coach both of these guys. If there’s an issue between them, I should step in and help mediate. That stemmed from some Ali stuff that, in looking at a situation like that, I have to take the blame myself and make sure all these guys are on the same page under the same roof.”
With Sean Strickland away in Florida for the past couple of weeks, the locker room has been smoother, at least from an SEO perspective. But the overarching point remains: Nicksick understands the responsibility that comes with coaching multiple high-profile athletes, and he recognizes the need to strengthen his own role as an arbitrator and broker of harmony within his camp. He wants to ensure that every fighter under his guidance—not just Manel Kape—feels like they are part of a unified team, with a clear path toward title contention and shared success.