Dricus du Plessis touched a nerve after he went after upcoming UFC 297 opponent and current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Sean Strickland, by talking about the champ’s abuse from his father.
Strickland opened up about his traumatic upbringing during an interview with Theo Von (details here), which prompted the champ to get emotional. While he was okay talking about it himself, he didn’t appreciate an upcoming opponent crossing the line by pouring it on. As a result, “Tarzan” sent “Stillknocks” a nasty private message on social media, threatening to stab him if he kept it up.
During his UFC 297 media day interview, Du Plessis was asked about the message and the threats and gave his side of the story. While he was quick to say he wasn’t worried or scared that the champ would actually “stab” or “kill” him because he’d knock him out before he got close enough to do it, he did acknowledge that touching on such a traumatic experience is something he would no longer do.
Furthermore, he allowed Strickland to continue to go as far as he wanted with his own trash talk since nothing fazes him.
“I replied and said, listen there is nothing you say that has an effect on me. Like, go crazy. You are talking about me kissing other dudes I have more photos. They are online, I don’t care. You think I care? I am completely comfortable with my sexuality. Have you seen my girl?” stated Du Plessis.
“So I do not care about that. Kissing my coach, my dad, my brothers…people are saying that’s gay? So what? I don’t care, I love those people, they are my family. There is nothing you can say to get under my skin. I told him he can say whatever he wants, all is fair in love and war, but I will not say anything about your childhood again.”
During a recent episode of UFC’s Embedded, a small clip showed the two men have their first face-to-face encounter since their brawl in the stands at UFC 296. Surprisingly, however, the two men shared a respectful moment with Strickland getting up to shake Dricus’ and his girlfriend’s hands, while telling his foe “thanks for understanding.”
While it’s nice to see two rivals come to a truce, all that will come to an end when they step into the cage this Saturday (Jan. 20, 2024) in Toronto, Canada in what will be the promotion’s first pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 297 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.