Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis Responds to Sean Strickland’s Stand and Bang Request Ahead of UFC 312
Dricus Du Plessis is set to defend his Middleweight title on February 9th at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. He welcomes former champion Sean Strickland back to the octagon for a rematch.
Their first bout at UFC 297 was a razor-close decision which went Du Plessis’s way, starting the South African title reign. Since then, champion Du Plessis has defended his belt against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August 2024.
In their first meeting, Du Plessis scored 6 takedowns against Strickland. Ahead of their rematch Strickland took to social media to request a pact with Du Plessis to “stand up like men and F****** settle this S***.”
The South African champion has since responded showing no interest in obliging to Strickland’s request.
Dricus Shoots Down Strickland’s Pact
In an interview with Fox Sports Australia, Dricus Du Plessis addressed Strickland’s pact, saying he is “comfortable everywhere.”:
“Look, it’s a ridiculous thing to ask. If you want to make pacts about us just standing up, go do boxing. I don’t go into fights thinking I have to stand up or take the guy down. I do what the situation tells me to do. That’s what MMA fighters do. I’m comfortable everywhere.”
Despite disregarding the pact, he does picture the majority of the fight being a stand up battle:
“100 per cent, I think we are most likely going to keep it standing,” Du Plessis added. “I know I have the cardio, I know I can push him back and I know I have the power to knock him out. So for me, that’s great. Then, if the opportunity comes to get a takedown, it’s a decision you have to make immediately. If you see the moment, you take it.”
Du Plessis reflects on Strickland’s “to the death” remarks ahead of the first fight as a reason to ignore Sean’s pact:
“He said ‘To the death,’ and I was ready for that,” Du Plessis said. “You saw it, too. I went forward for 23 minutes of a 25-minute fight. But from him? It was jabs and teeps. Against Paulo Costa next fight, same thing. So, ‘to the death’? Sean Strickland knows a lot of one-liners to sound tough, but I expose fake tough guys. And as for him now again saying let’s make this pact? What’s the purpose of a pact after we saw what happened the last time? Plus, I’m not here to make pacts – I’m here to win.”
Dricus is uninterested in pacts and “here to win. ” Given his success using grappling, he will likely use it again at UFC 312.
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