Coach Eric Nicksick Discusses Dan Ige’s Performance Against Bryce Mitchell

Dan Ige held his own despite not remembering the second half of his recent bout.

Renowned mixed martial arts coach Eric Nicksick offered his take on his student, Ige's (17-7) performance against Bryce Mitchell (16-1) at UFC Fight Night 228. Coming off two back-to-back victories against Nate Landwehr and Damon Jackson, Ige failed to secure the victory against Mitchell, dropping a hard-fought decision.

“50k” managed to cut Mitchell under the eye in the first round and displayed his defensive grappling by stopping his opponent's takedown attempts until the last few minutes of Round 1. However, it was a left hand landed by Mitchell in Round 2 which seemingly hurt Ige. “Thug Nasty” followed the strike up with a takedown and went on to control the Xtreme Couture product for the remainder of the round.

Discussing his student's performance in his Thursday appearance on “Remember the Show,” Nicksick said:

“Looking back at it now, we watched the fight yesterday, me and Dan... He doesn't really remember much of Round 3 and he actually didn't know he got clipped in Round 2 and he said that. 'Man, I got clipped!' and he's like, 'I didn't remember at all Round 3' and so he was kind of on autopilot,” Nicksick noted.

In the final round, Mitchell managed to secure an early takedown, where he kept the Hawaiian on the mat and amassed a great deal of control time.

“I wanted him to be more urgent in those scramble positions,” the coach stated. “I didn't feel like Dan was firing on all cylinders in that moment. It's like he was kind of like on autopilot. Now looking back, that's why I think it's important to debrief with the fighters after the fight whether you win or lose.”