Kyte: He fought so much. He went 16 fights from his debut in February 2018 and the fight with Sean, so five-and-a-half years. That’s three-a-year, every year, and the last four years are at the championship level.
That’s a lot.
Nicksick: Right. That’s a lot.
Kyte: It’s interesting because I understand everything Dricus was saying at their press conference launching the event in Perth — and it’s the question we ask all the time when we get someone that is in Izzy’s position: you’re 35, you’ve been to the top of the mountain twice, and the last time you got there by exorcising the last demon that was out there, doing it in spectacular fashion, so can you get up for this anymore?
You didn’t against Sean, and that’s not to take anything away from his performance and your coaching, but you seemed up for Dricus, he couldn’t go, and can you get back up for him now?
Saturday’s Full Fight Card Preview
I think he can, but that’s the question, tucked right in there with the layoff — does he still have it? Can he still do it?
One Coaching Curiosity
Kyte: If there is a little something in this matchup that catches your eye, that piques your interest from a coaching standpoint, what is it?
Nicksick: I would like to see Izzy see a little adversity, similar to the fight with Sean, and I want to see how he responds to that adversity; that’s my coaching thing.