Dricus du Plessis refutes the idea that UFC 296 crowd brawl with Sean Strickland was staged
Dricus du Plessis has refuted the idea that his UFC 296 brawl with Sean Strickland was somehow staged.
At UFC 297, Dricus du Plessis will challenge Sean Strickland for the UFC middleweight championship. In preparation for their showdown, the two men traded words during a seasonal press conference prior to UFC 296.
Then, at the UFC 296 event itself, the rivalry turned physical as Strickland launched himself at du Plessis in a crowd brawl. As you can imagine, it got everyone talking.
In a recent interview, the South African challenger addressed the situation and spoke about how he was able to get under the champ’s skin.
du Plessis looks back at Strickland brawl
“They put you together near each other on purpose, bro,” the interviewer said.
“No,” Du Plessis replied. “Well, I mean, I don’t think so.”
“Obviously, you know, this is a big mental game,” du Plessis said. “This whole fight thing is a mental game for me. [Pressers are] all fun and games. But at the end of the day, that’s part of it. That’s part of the fight, what happens in that press conference. That’s a fight before the fight just like the weigh-in is. There’s nothing you could possibly say to throw me off. And I said cool. I’m gonna start chipping away and see where when I get this.”
“He looks like a guy that he’s not gonna be easy to freak because he dishes it out,” he continued. “The first thing I said [did it], and that was only the beginning. He’s so glad it was the end, I had so much more to go. Oh my God, I was so ready, and that was the first thing I said to this guy! I thought, ‘Oh, he’s acting,’ and then I saw like, ‘I really got him.’ Okay. I did all this homework, and I did all this preparation for this, and now the first thing I say [got him].”
Quotes via MMA Mania
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Topics:
Dricus du Plessis Sean Strickland UFC
