Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland admitted his relationship with coach Eric Nicksick is ‘mixed’ ahead of UFC 328.

Sean Strickland is days away from potentially reclaiming the UFC middleweight throne against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328. After months of bad blood brewing between Strickland and Chimaev, they’ll finally get the chance to settle their beef inside the Octagon in a high-stakes matchup.

Strickland earned another title shot after an impressive finish of Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston earlier this year. He leapfrogged Nassourdine Imavov and other top contenders to get his long-desired shot at Chimaev.

Strickland’s bounce-back performance against Hernandez came after a head-scratching showing against Dricus du Plessis in their UFC 312 rematch. After losing dominantly, Strickland and his coach, Eric Nicksick, seemed to be on edge after the longtime Xtreme Couture lead admitted they might need to consider parting ways.

While Strickland and Nicksick remain Octagon partners, the former UFC middleweight champ raised eyebrows when asked to assess their relationship almost a full year removed from UFC 312.

Sean Strickland critiques longtime coach Eric Nicksick just days before UFC 328

During his UFC 328 media day press conference, Strickland was asked to describe his current relationship with Nicksick after their previous back-and-forths.

“Me and Eric have a mixed relationship where it’s like, I’ll say this tactfully, if you’ve never fought or been in the gym, you don’t have an understanding,” Strickland said.

“Eric is a good coach, he’s a good striking coach but if you’ve never fought, you just don’t understand. I don’t really talk much, I don’t tell my problems to people so I think Eric felt a little upset that I was going into a title fight with a broken arm and he had no knowledge of it.” (h/t Bloody Elbow)

Strickland is referencing an arm injury he entered with at UFC 312 against Dricus du Plessis last year. In the fight, Strickland suffered a broken nose after a brutal punch by Du Plessis in the middle of their bout.

If Strickland is victorious this weekend, Nicksick will be a major reason for his success. In the meantime, it appears that Strickland and Nicksick still share a unique relationship.

What’s your ‘Fight of the Night’ pick at UFC 328? Let us know in the comments!