When the UFC bantamweight belt was left on the octagon canvas on Saturday following an unprecedented end to a title fight, it was coach Eric Nicksick who retrieved it.
Forty-eight hours later, Nicksick is still picking up the pieces from a chaotic UFC 259 aftermath.
The Xtreme Couture coach was in the corner of Aljamain Sterling at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, alongside Sterling’s longtime mentor Ray Longo. They had a front row seat to watch Sterling’s spirited challenge of champion Petr Yan that ended in controversial fashion in the fourth round when Yan landed an illegal knee to a grounded Sterling, resulting in Yan being disqualified and the bantamweight title being awarded to Sterling.