Sean Strickland attacked Dricus Du Plessis in the stands at UFC 296 last month and has since threatened to stab him, but the reigning middleweight titleholder wants you to know that it’s nothing personal.
According to Strickland, the rift that had him throwing hands with his South African opposition last month rests squarely on the shoulders of UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. During the trio’s appearance at the promotion’s seasonal press event in December, ‘Sugar’ threw some shade at Strickland by bringing up his troubled childhood.
Following O’Malley’s lead, Du Plessis further targeted Strickland’s traumatic past, bringing things to a boiling point that eventually spilled over into the crowd inside T-Mobile Arena 24 hours later.
“Here’s the thing, it was never f*cking personal,” Strickland said during the UFC 297 press conference. “You had the cuck Sean O’Malley say some stupid sh*t he knows nothing about. I go hard on everybody. You don’t think I deserve some sh*t? I go hard on all you motherf*ckers. I’m proud of the motherf*cker. You don’t see me lose character often, this motherf*cker got me there” (h/t MMA Mania).
Sean Strickland Promises Fight Fans a ‘War’
It’s certainly not the first time Du Plessis has found himself in a heated confrontation with a UFC champion. Following his impressive second-round KO of Robert Whittaker in July, then-champion Israel Adesanya entered the cage for a racially-charged staredown that had fight fans chomping at the bit to see them square off inside the Octagon.
Strickland spoiled those plans with his dominant decision victory over ‘The Last Stylebender’ two months later, but ‘Tarzan’ has promised fans a bloody brawl in the UFC 297 headliner.
“Here’s the thing about Dricus, he ain’t f*cking Izzy — Dricus likes to fight,” Strickland continued. “He likes to fight and he’s a hell of a fight. Do you know what that means? We’re going to be d*ck to d*ck, nipple to nipple in that range f*cking fighting. I hope after we’re done, win or lose, we’re f*cking bloody and we put on a show for you f*cking guys. Applaud him and encourage him. Because we want a f*cking war!”
UFC 297 goes down on January 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. The winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis may find themselves tasked with taking on former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya, who will be sitting cageside for Saturday’s festivities.