On January 20, the UFC 297 main event promises an electrifying clash. Reigning middleweight champion Sean Strickland will defend his title against ranked no.2 Dricus du Plessis. The intensity of their rivalry has reached unprecedented levels, with a recent incident adding fuel to the already controversial build-up.
During the UFC 296 event, tensions flared at a press conference. The situation escalated rapidly when du Plessis talked about the champion’s abusive childhood.
During the main event of UFC 296, both competitors got into a fierce exchange in the crowd. This ended up generating significant publicity for their impending showdown.
In a recent episode of The Man Dance, Strickland disclosed a conversation with Du Plessis after their physical altercation at UFC 296. Despite the rivalry, Strickland expressed a surprising level of respect for his opponent:
He said: “I actually talked to Dricus [du Plessis] after that [physical altercation at UFC 296]…I like the guy. Me and him are going to have a f*cking war. We’re gonna have a f*cking death match. There’s no other way that ends. Somebody is getting knocked the f*cked out..I actually sent him a f*cking message, and I was like, ‘Dude, listen, Dricus, we’re gonna go try to murder each other, but if you bring that sh*t up again, I will f*cking stab you.”
Strickland emphasized the seriousness of his warning to Du Plessis, citing potential legal consequences outside the Octagon.
Strickland continued: “He was cool about it. Again, I’m not telling you I don’t want to fight you, Dricus. I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that’s a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting to like if I go to Canada and you bring that up, well guess what? I’m going to go to jail, they’re going to deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f*cking reason.”
The brawl between Strickland and Du Plessis at UFC 296 was intense. Strickland revealed his tactics during the altercation, including attempts to elbow the back of Du Plessis’ head and almost biting him.
He said: “I knew what was going to happen. I knew it was going to get broken up, so the best thing I could do is f*cking 12-6 elbows to the back of the head if I want to do the most damage…If you look in the video, right at the very end, I went to go f*cking bite. If you slow down the video, you’ll see me grab his head, and I went to go take a chunk out of him. I’m almost positive I got a little bit of hair in my teeth.”
Strickland continued by explaining his reasoning for choosing not to bite Du Plessis.
“The reason I didn’t fully commit, as I did it, I was like, ‘Sean, there’s no coming back from this. The moment you take a piece of him.”
Riding high on confidence after defeating Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland faces a determined Du Plessis. The South African has an impressive record of six consecutive UFC victories, including a win against former champion Robert Whittaker. Du Plessis is confident in his ability to emerge victorious in the Saturday showdown. UFC 297 promises a fierce matchup between the two competitors.