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UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland got into a heated brawl with challenger Dricus du Plessis in stands at UFC 296 in Las Vegas. The two fighters almost got into a fight at the 2024 seasonal press conference earlier in the week to promote their upcoming UFC 297 title fight. During the press conference, du Plessis made a personal remark about Strickland’s troubled upbringing.
The American has always been vocal about his disturbed childhood and how he was raised by an abusive father. The South African took a jibe at his opponent and said, "Bro, why are you so angry? You think your dad beat the sh*t out of you? Your dad doesn't have sh*t on me. I'm going to show you what it's like to get beaten. Every childhood memory you have is going to come back." The personal comments didn’t go well with Strickland and he responded aggressively to them.
Watch the brawl between Strickland and Dricus:
Strickland and Dricus get into brawl in stands at UFC 296
During the fight in Vegas, Strickland and Plessis engaged in a verbal exchange and the former made a gesture in which he pretended to shoot Du Plessis, who responded by dodging the bullet. The champion then signaled the mother and her child sitting behind him to move aside before he landed multiple punches at his rival while standing on a chair. However, the 29-year-old upcoming middleweight title challenger scrambled to break free and seemingly grabbed Strickland's lower legs.
Watch the full incident between Strickland and Plessis:
Strickland was moved away by the security and the latter mocked him on Twitter by posting, "Now I understand why you have a 33 percent finish rate, you hit like a girl, on January 20 the security won’t be there to save your life when I’m on top.” For the unversed, both will lock horns at UFC 297 on January 20, 2024.
