South African middleweight Dricus Du Plessis will get his shot at gold in January at UFC 297 against controversial champion Sean Strickland.
The champion is constantly causing headlines whether its the things he says or the things he does, most recently a video has surfaced of Strickland confronting an alleged domestic abuser outside his home in Las Vegas. Now the number one contender has had his say on the matter on Submission Radio,
“That’s most normal thing in the world,” Du Plessis commented. “I was like Oh cool I mean that happens like weekly over here.”
Dricus Du Plessis Earning His Title Shot
The former KSW champion has come through every test put in front of him since joining the UFC back in 2020. He finds himself 6-0 and his latest win was by far his most impressive. He became the first man not named Israel Adesanya to defeat former champion Robert Whittaker and he did it stunning style. In a fight that numerous members of the MMA community and media wrote him off he earned his shot at UFC Gold and the chance to become the first South African champion in the organisation. The original plan was to face Adesanya as the pair had created a ferocious rivalry. However, Strickland threw a spanner in the works after his unbelievable victory at UFC 293 in one of the performances of the year as he dominated the champion in Perth.
Hunting The New King
Strickland will no doubt remember 2023 as one of the most successful years of his life. After a disappointing end to 2022 with a decision defeat to Jared Cannonier he bounced into 2023 with a short notice win over Nassourdine Imavov and then followed it up with a devastating performance over feared rising prospect Abus Magomedov. Following this after getting his shot really due to lack of worthy contenders for the champion he snatched the opportunity with both hands. Now he is the hunted we will see his first defence come in Canada at UFC 297 and the challenger is wading into the fight with plenty of confidence and a game plan.
In the interview with Submission Radio he did elaborate on how he portrays the fight going.
“I’m not just standing there in the pocket throwing with him because that’s his fight style. That’s his style I’m making sure that I’m fighting a smart fight and that whatever I throw like I said I need one shot I need to land one shot if Pereira could knock him out I can knock him out even better,” Du Plessis stated.
“I go out there to win or die trying and that’s one thing I can say from Sean, he goes out there and he wants to fight. It’s an incredible fight. I think fans are going to love it and you know I’m going to be very surprised if this is not a Fight of the Year Contender” he added. Quotes via MiddleEasy.com.
What do you make of the comments by Dricus Du Plessis? Let us know in the comments?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
