LAS VEGAS – If Daniel Zellhuber has some extra pep in his step this week, there’s a good reason why.
They say a rising tide lifts all boats, and the tide rose really high this past Saturday when Sean Strickland upset Israel Adesanya at the UFC 293 main event in Sydney to win the middleweight title. And that could mean big things for some of his teammates at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas – including Zellhuber.
“I was in with my manager, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Zellhuber said at Wednesday’s media day for Noche UFC in Las Vegas. “The way that Sean won that fight was something pretty amazing. We share head coach Eric (Nicksick). I just worked out today in the morning with Eric and the energy was different having a coach that just made his second UFC champ. Having all the trust of him that I’m going to be there at some point, it just gives me something extra that I don’t know how to explain.”
Zellhuber (13-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on Saturday takes on Christos Giagos (20-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) in a lightweight bout on the main card at Noche UFC at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event streams on ESPN+.
Mexico’s “Golden Boy,” Zellhuber will be fighting on the UFC’s Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic Heritage Month card, and he’ll be trying use that energy to help push him to a second straight win. In April, he outworked Landon Vannata to rebound from the first loss of his career, which came in his UFC debut.
But he’s not discounting that energy from Strickland’s win over Adesanya and said Strickland gets a bad rap compared to what he’s experienced behind the scenes.
“I feel that some people have like this bad idea of him being a gym bully,” Zellhuber said. “He’s not like that. He’s actually, in his weird way, a good person. He’s in all the sparring sessions that I have. He has always something to say – again, in his way. But he always has something to say to us to show (a new way). He’s really always there to share something.
“He’s a good training partner. You need to earn his respect. I feel that if you just walk out in the gym and just say like, ‘Hey, I’m going to train,’ he’s just going to f*cking beat you up. But if you win the respect of him, and he sees you working and really trying to get better, he’s going to help. That’s Sean Strickland.”
Check out Zellhuber’s full media day interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
