Mike Tyson's former coach analyzes how Sean Strickland's biggest strength proved to be his weakness against Dricus du Plessis: "You die on that sword"

Mike Tyson's former coach recently gave his take on Sean Strickland's performance against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312. He noted that Strickland depended so heavily on his strength that it backfired on him during the rematch against du Plessis.

Strickland returned to the octagon at UFC 312 full of confidence in his ability to reclaim his title from du Plessis but fell short, failing to inflict significant damage on the reigning champion. Du Plessis displayed his dominance throughout five rounds and prevailed via unanimous decision.

The person mentioned above, legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, who has previously coached Mike Tyson, discussed the UFC 312 main event on an episode of his THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas podcast. According to Atlas, Strickland, known for his sharp jabs, depended mainly on them, which eventually proved ineffective against du Plessis.

''He's (Strickland) got a tremendous jab. He lives and dies by the sword. And sometimes you live and die by the sword, in this case was the jab, and that sword is not there for you, you die on that sword. Strickland's strength is his weakness. His strength is to be cold, calculating...That's also what hurt him in these last two fights (with du Plessis) is that he is so conservative.''

The 68-year-old also added that Strickland's lack of creativity opened a window for du Plessis to overcome the former champion.

''He doesn't waste anything. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't take chances to make those mistakes in those kind of ways. So, you can out hustle him sometimes. You can sometimes outwork him. He leaves an opportunity to be out hustled, just outworked a little bit...Be a little busier and go outside that realm and be more creative. That's du Plessis."

Check out Teddy Atlas' comments below (1:53):

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Teddy Atlas praises Sean Strickland's coach for his straightforward instructions

Sean Strickland failed to capitalize on coach Eric Nicksick's advice to switch up his fighting style against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 and lost the contest via unanimous decision. Following this, Nicksick expressed his disappointment over Strickland's performance during his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

In the aforementioned podcast, Teddy Atlas voiced his appreciation to Nicksick for his no-nonsense advice during the title bout, saying:

''I gotta give his corner credit late in the fight. They were great. [Nicksick] was honest. He was strong. He had no BS, [wasn't] trying to be friends and not hurt his feelings. 'I don't wanna get fired. I wanna be nice...' This ain't a nice game. This is fighting." [H/t: MMA Knockout]