Dricus Du Plessis Holds No Grudge Against Sean Strickland After UFC 296 Brawl

Dricus Du Plessis claims to have no hard feelings for Sean Strickland after their recent scuffle.

“Stillknocks” is slated to challenge Strickland for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The two initially got into a war of words during the UFC’s seasonal press conference in Las Vegas, which was held to promote upcoming events. Strickland and Du Plessis were seemingly seated too close for comfort a day later while in attendance at UFC 296, which resulted in a physical altercation between the two fighters. After a verbal exchange, Strickland was seen jumping over chairs to attack Du Plessis before being separated by security and escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Du Plessis claims to harbor no ill feelings for Strickland, as he did what any “real man” in his position would have.

“For me, I was completely calm about – I wasn’t angry. I was having fun, and the security was like, ‘You need to chill.’ I’m like, ‘I’m as chill – I can’t be more chill. What do you want from me?” Du Plessis said on "The Coach and the Casual” podcast.

“There’s no hard feelings. I still have the world’s respect for Sean Strickland. He’s a real man. I said it, and he showed that [at UFC 296]. I mean, he stood up for himself and he did what he – that’s what a real man does.

“He stood up for himself. Listen, did he behave like a champion? Probably not. But at the end of the day, champion or not, we are fighters. We are not football players. We are not sprinters. We are fighters, and that’s what we do. It’s in our DNA.”