Strickland's coach names his desired opponent for first title defense

UFC middleweight champion coach Sean Strickland Eric Niksik would like his protégé to make his first belt defense against Jared Cannonier, to whom he lost by split decision last December.

Let us remember that last weekend Strickland beat Israel Adesanya on points and took the championship title from him.

“Obviously, they will do as they see fit, but I would say Jared Cannonier is the top contender for a number of reasons. First of all, he defeated us. The judges' opinions were divided then, but the record indicates that we lost to him. And I know exactly what we did wrong in this fight, and what cost us the desired result,” Niksik said in an interview with The Schmo.