Coach Eric Nicksick lauds Tom Aspinall for helping prepare Francis Ngannou for his MMA return: "He's an ally" 

MMA coach Eric Nicksick recently acknowledged Tom Aspinall for assisting them in Francis Ngannou's MMA return. In addition to praising Aspinall for being an exemplary sportsman, Nicksick disclosed that Ngannou's fight went just as they had anticipated.

In a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Nicksick spoke to the combat sports journalist and discussed Aspinall helping them with their game plan against Renan Ferreira prior to Ngannou's matchup with the Brazilian.

The Xtreme Couture head coach revealed his conversation with the Brit, including how Aspinall offered him his associates in order to help the former UFC heavyweight champion.

''He's [Aspinall] an ally. He's a guy I hit up when we were going to Paris. I was like, 'Hey, if you're around, man, I would like to have you come out,' because UFC was fighting in Paris that same week when I was there training Francis [Ngannou]...and then he's like,'here's a list of some of my guys that I use if you need to use them. He's been a great ally and I think there's been a mutual respect between Tom and Francis.''

Nicksick continued:

''That sportsmanship side of things. Tom was writing me and just saying, 'Here's what I see. What do you think?' I wrote back and forth, and the fight played out kinda how Tom and I thought. 'That's exactly what we said.' It was cool, man. He's a great guy.''

Check out Eric Nicksick's comments below (5:28):

Ngannou made his highly anticipated MMA return in a heavyweight showdown against Ferreira at PFL: Super Fights: Battle of the Giants last weekend, where he secured a first-round knockout win.

Meanwhile, Aspinall successfully defended his interim heavyweight title at UFC 304 by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in the opening round.

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Eric Nicksick discusses Francis Ngannou's gameplan

Given the enormous size of the two heavyweights, many anticipated that Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira's title fight would be a stand-up bout. However, Ngannou won the fight with brutal ground and pound strikes.

In the aforementioned interview with Ariel Helwani, coach Eric Nicksick gave his take on Ngannou's wrestling, saying:

''It's always a part of the plan if it presents itself. The plan is to make sure we're ready in all facets of the game. That was definitely something that we leaned heavy on and understanding that the path of least resistance to us was the wrestling if we get top-side heavy.'' [6:35 in the aforementioned video]