Keyboard Kimura Conversations: Eric Nicksick on Francis Ngannou's Development, Championship Victory, and What Comes Next
The Xtreme Couture head man reflects on everything leading up to UFC 260, how much better the new heavyweight champion can still get, and when he'd like to see him fight again
The build-up to the heavyweight championship rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou represented a perfect storm of circumstances coming together to create one of the most highly anticipated fights in recent years.
In their first meeting on January 20, 2018 at UFC 220, Miocic dominated the dangerous, but green challenger, using his wrestling to repeatedly ground Ngannou, sapping him of his uncanny power and breaking his will a little more each time he dragged him to the canvas. He took some shots on the feet, and landed a few of his own as well, but for the most part, their initial encounter was fought on the canvas, where the champion was able to repeatedly show that the hyped challenger lacked the full complement of skills needed to become UFC champion.
Nothing that had transpired in the three-plus years since their first encounter had provided any evidence that Ngannou had filled the gaps in his arsenal heading into their second meeting late last month at UFC 260.
The ghost of a man who exited the Octagon following his demoralizing loss to Miocic in Boston remained when he fought Derrick Lewis a little more than six months later at UFC 226, resulting in a second consecutive disappointing loss.
From there, Ngannou got back to being his dominant self, needing just 162 seconds combined to dispatch Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik to once again establish himself as the top contender in the heavyweight division and position himself opposite Miocic for a second time.
As the fight drew closer, Ngannou’s wrestling defence remained the tantalizing question at the center of the intriguing clash; a question made only more intoxicating by the fact that there was no real way to provide a definitive answer, primarily because Ngannou wasn’t allowing any of his opponents to remain upright and conscious long enough to even truly attempt to wrestle.
When the familiar adversaries renewed acquaintances two weeks ago in Las Vegas, it didn’t take long for those questions to be answered and Ngannou to send a whole new cause for concern rippling throughout the UFC heavyweight division.
Midway through the first round, Miocic looked to drag Ngannou to the canvas, but the challenger defended it expertly, reacting and moving like he’d prepared for that exact scenario hundreds of times over. Not only did he stuff the champion’s head, sprawl out his hips, and deny Miocic’s attempt, but he quickly went on the offensive as well, returning the favor and putting the champion on the canvas, pummeling him with heavy shots on the ground.
It was in that moment that the end result was determined; all that was left to figure out was how much longer it would take for the new champion to officially ascend to the throne.
“Our goal was to do it on our parameters and to make Stipe panic-wrestle,” began Eric Nicksick, the head coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and Ngannou’s chief corner, reflecting on his charge’s standout performance en route to claiming the UFC heavyweight title 11 days ago. “(We wanted to) make him shoot when he’s really not prepared or ready to shoot, because that’s when we’re really going to be able to show these skills because when you know that fastball is coming, you know how to hit it.
“It was repetition to where it became muscle memory for him,” continued Nicksick, who credited Tony Johnson and Tim Johnson for the innumerable rounds they spent wrestling with Ngannou. “The biggest thing we talked about was ‘once he comes in there, you have to make this man pay for it because he’s going to keep coming back if he’s not punished for it,’ and that’s what I was most proud of.
“I was so proud that he was like, ‘I’ve taken it as a disrespectful act that you’ve tried to take me down; now you’re going to have to pay for that takedown.’”
Though the fight would extend beyond the first round, providing Nicksick with his first opportunity to interact with Ngannou in the corner in five fights working together, it was over less than a minute into the second, as the challenger floored the champion with a short, inside jab and put him away with a hail of follow-up blows seconds later.
While many believed Ngannou’s ascension to the heavyweight throne was inevitable because of his uncanny blend of size, speed, power, and athleticism, Nicksick knew it would happen because of everything he saw from the 34-year-old competitor when the spotlight wasn’t on him.
A Different Kind of Drive
The world was Ngannou’s for the taking heading into his first meeting with Miocic.
He was heralded as a “one in a million” type of talent and positioned as the betting favorite over the man who had just established a new divisional record for the most consecutive successful title defenses. His future as a global superstar was being mapped out before he’d actually won the title, and when it all came crashing down in Boston, it left the quiet man from Batie, Cameroon shaken.
He was still reeling from the loss, from the embarrassment, from the disappointment six months later when he fought Lewis at UFC 226 — the explosive pairing turning into a staring match where the most impactful blow was actually a shove that happened the day before at the ceremonial weigh-ins.
“When you talk about the Derrick fight, it’s almost like the Stipe and Derrick fights were merged into eight rounds together,” said Nicksick, who wasn’t working with Ngannou when he fought Lewis. “When you bring it up, you might as well just name them Stipe Lewis — it’s one fight, eight rounds, and he goes, ‘It just was not me.’”
It wasn’t long after the Lewis fight that Ngannou became a permanent fixture at Xtreme Couture and Nicksick realized the new heavyweight in the building was something special.
“I’ve known him for three-and-a-half, four years now, and when he first moved to Vegas, he was in and out of gyms,” continued the 41-year-old coach. “He didn’t really have a setup that he wanted, but I never saw that go-getter mentality from him the way that I see it now.
“Those two losses changed him, but there is nothing more refreshing than someone with self-accountability. They’re not pointing fingers at people — they’re looking at themselves in the mirror and going, ‘Okay, I know what I need to improve on and the areas where I need to get better.’
“There were days where I was like, ‘I’m good; you can take a day off and rest,’ and he would say, ‘Naw man, I’m going to the gym and hitting this workout,’ and I’d look at my wife and say, ‘I’ve got to go’ because I can’t preach it and then not follow the act.”
Nicksick likens the impact of Ngannou’s victory on the team to Roger Bannister running a four-minute mile — it wasn’t something anyone necessarily believed was possible until they saw someone do it, and then suddenly, everyone understood what they were capable of doing.
While not everyone can match Ngannou’s physical gifts, it’s the example he shows by not solely relying on his unique natural skills and abilities that Nicksick knows resonates with everyone else in the room.
“I run a grueling, hard Monday practice where guys are wiped until the next day, and then you see a guy like Francis go and hope on the airdyne or hop on the assault runner and get an extra mile or two in. It makes you think to yourself, ‘What is separating me from this championship mentality where this guy can do it and I can’t?’
“It has changed the dynamic of Xtreme Couture,” he added. “It’s given us another lifeline because there are guys in the gym — Dan Ige, Puna Soriano, Brad Tavares — that now have a blueprint and someone to lean on. These guys are so motivated to get back to work and dig it out the way Francis did because the blueprint has been laid out for them.”
In addition to being a motivating force for those working alongside him in the gym, Ngannou is also an active participant in his own development, working with Nicksick and his long-time striking coach, Dewey Cooper, in a collaborative effort to add techniques and attacks to his arsenal.
“At the end of the day, he’s his own artist and he has to maintain creative control,” began Nicksick, outlining the way things work between the coaches and the athlete. “It’s not a video game for us — we can’t just sit there and mash buttons.
“What I have to do is give him the reasons why, so if I tell him, ‘Here’s a combination,’ he might work it, but if I can explain to him why we hit a specific combination and the reasons behind it, then it resonates with him. If I can give him the reasons why we’re doing something, he’s more apt to be on board with it.”
As impressive as he looked in his victory over Miocic late last month and in the four brief outings before that, Nicksick believes the newly minted heavyweight champion still has a long way to go before he’s reached his full potential as a fighter.
“There are so many things that we worked on in the past that we kind of got away from for the camp,” he said, sounding like someone who knew a juicy secret, but just couldn’t bring himself to share it. “Simulation things because we really narrowed things down to be specific about Stipe, but in other fights, I think you’re going to see other things out of him that he’s capable of doing that we really haven’t seen at all.
“With his athleticism and his desire to learn more and get better, I think we’re just kind of scratching the surface with things.”
The Real Work Starts Now
March 27 was a joyous night for Team Ngannou as they celebrated their championship victory, but amidst the Old Fashions and revelry, Nicksick knew it was also the night the real work needed to begin.
The hunter had become the hunted, and he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page about viewing this as the start to the next chapter, and not the end of the book.
“At one point in the night, it was just the group of us — myself, Marquel (Martin, Ngannou’s agent), Francis, Dewey, and (UFC welterweight champion Kamaru) Usman,” began Nicksick, who took a small vacation with his family following the victory, but is right back to work this weekend with several fighters competing Friday night at Bellator 256. “I didn’t want to rain on the parade, but I also wanted to put it in their ears like, ‘Hey guys — this is where the real work begins.’
“I looked over to Usman for the reassurance of a man that’s been to the mountaintop, that’s now defended his title, just to get that clarification from him and his eyes got real big and he was shaking his head like, ‘He’s right; this is now where we really need to shine.’”
Usman was a late addition to the corner grouping at UFC 260, brought in because of his close relationship with Ngannou, his championship pedigree, and his calm demeanor.
Though it was his first time being a part of Ngannou’s training camp and Fight Week preparations, Nicksick is hopeful that the welterweight titleholder will continue to be a frequent presence beside him whenever the heavyweight champion heads into battle.
Plus, he likes having the back-up.
“I know Kamaru has big things on his plate too, but I hope that with the way everything worked out for us, Kamaru is in that corner every time we fight,” said Nicksick. “I hope (it works out that way) because it’s that reinforcement where Dad might be harping on you about one thing over and over and over, and then your uncle comes over and says it, but says it in a different way, but he’s got the pedigree of Kamaru Usman.
“Dad was all-state, but Uncle Kamaru Usman was all-universe, so it’s different; it has a different ring to it,” he added, chasing his analogy with a laugh. “It’s nice when it comes from someone like him — we’re all on the same pace and in agreement with it, but he just really solidifies it when it comes from his mouth.”
One of the reasons Nicksick isn’t worried about complacency setting in or the new opportunities and obligations that come with being champion getting in the way of the work that needs to happen in the gym is because of how well everyone came together during Fight Week and the understanding that everything can disappear in an instant if the performances suddenly fall off.
“During Fight Week, there were things happening where leading up to weigh-in day, I called everybody in and said, ‘No more. I don’t want any more social media talk, this promotion, that promotion — we’re dialing it in on Stipe come weigh-in day’ and everyone was in agreement. There was no one that was trying to upstage anybody.
“I think Marquel is one of the most cutting-edge agents in the business today,” continued Nicksick, heaping praise on the CAA agent and former Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise contestant. “He doesn’t focus so much on the MMA side of things — he focuses on things outside of the box and brings in another revenue stream for Francis that other agents aren’t thinking about.
“I know this thing is a business and they’re trying to strike while the iron is hot, but it’s just like you said — it all goes away real quick with a loss, so we’ve got to dial this shit in.”
What’s Next?
Before Ngannou had exited the Octagon at UFC 260, Twitter was alight with discussions about who would be the first to challenge the newly crowned champion and when his first defense was likely to take place.
The second part is easier for Nicksick to answer, though he’s got thoughts on the first part too.
“I would like to see him take some time off, just to decompress,” he said of Ngannou. “I think late July or August is great timing for him.
“I know he wants to go back home, and when he goes back home, he comes back a little bit heavier, so I already know the work we’re going to have to put in once he goes back home and gets back to the States.
“As far as opponents, they all kind of make sense,” he added. “I think you can make an argument for Derrick Lewis, I think you can make an argument for Jon Jones.”
Ngannou has a history with both men and each matchup is compelling in its own way.
Jones vacated the light heavyweight title last year and discussed facing Ngannou over Twitter. Ahead of last month’s championship rematch, UFC President Dana White told the media that “Bones” would be first in line to challenge the winner, but quickly pivoted to putting Lewis forward as the logical first dance partner for the new titleholder following UFC 260.
In addition to already holding a win over Ngannou from their UFC 266 staring contest, Lewis is currently riding a four-fight winning streak, most recently becoming the only fighter besides Ngannou to defeat Curtis Blaydes.
“Unfortunately, I think the Jon Jones thing is kind of out of our hands in terms of the numbers and what he’s asking for,” offered Nicksick. “But if you just take away all the schematics on the business side of things, when you look at the fight itself, how can you not get excited to fight a guy like Jon Jones?
“In my opinion, it’s the most compelling fight in MMA history when you really break it down. It’d be very exciting to get that matchup, but I also think Derrick Lewis poses a lot of problems and issues as well, and he’s very deserving of that shot at the title as well.
“You’re seeing a lot of growth in his skill set and he looks a lot more comfortable with his weight,” he added in regards to Lewis, who is undefeated since having a long overdue surgical procedure to repair damaged knee ligaments that were limiting the Houston-based heavyweight. “There are a lot of things that pose a real problem with Derrick Lewis, not to mention that we’re talking about heavyweights with four-ounce gloves and they can sling’em — they’ll knock a rhino out with one punch, so it’s very important to take that into consideration.”
Regardless of who it is and when it takes place, Ngannou will be entering as the champion, having successfully answered all the questions that were being asked of him prior to his rematch with Miocic while simultaneously showcasing a few new layers to his game.
And with his desire to learn and improve, and a close-knit, dynamic team around him, Nicksick is confident that the best is yet to come for the new UFC heavyweight champion.
“There are some wrinkles there that you guys haven’t seen yet that I’m looking forward to unveiling throughout this process,” he said excitedly. “I think when you really look at Francis, he’s still kind of a puppy in this sport, which is scary, because there is so much more growth I think you’re going to see from him.”
Scary for UFC heavyweights.
Exciting for everyone else.