Sean Strickland warns Dricus du Plessis against mentioning childhood trauma ahead of UFC 297 fight: ‘I’ll stab you’

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland threatens to stab upcoming opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, after the South African’s comments at a UFC 297 press conference. 

Strickland is now under a week away from his first title defence and will take on Du Plessis who has gone 6-0 with the promotion since debuting in 2020. The fight always seemed like it had the potential to be a fun one conserving the pair’s willingness to exchange on the feet, but after a heated press conference and subsequent scuffle, there is some real heat heading into this one. 

Strickland has been open regarding abuse he suffered as a child, Du Plessis would then use this as ammunition against the 32-year-old at a press conference.

“Bro, why are you so angry? Du Plessis asked. You think your dad beat the shit out of you? Your dad doesn’t have shit 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.”

This clearly rattled Sean Strickland who became extremely animated before calling Du Plessis a homophobic slur. After some unfortunate Strickland would leap at Du Plessis before striking him multiple times.

Sean Strickland doubles down ahead of UFC 297 

Strickland often says outrageous things, often personally attacking other fighters, using language that many would consider to be homophobic or misogynistic. However, rather hypocritically, Sean Strickland now claims that Du Plessis crossed the line with his comments and is clearly still very upset.

Talking on his YouTube alongside fellow UFC fighter Chris Curtis, Strickland said that he messaged Du Plessis after the incident and said that if he talked about Strickland’s abuse again, he would stab him.

“Remember when I attacked Dricus? I actually sent him a message,” Sean Strickland said on his YouTube channel. “‘Dude listen, Dricus, we’re gonna go try to murder each other, but if you bring that sh*t up again, I will (expletive) stab you. Press conference, weigh-in… he was cool about it. I’m not telling you I don’t wanna fight you, Dricus, I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that’s a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting. If I go to Canada and you bring that up, guess what? I’m gonna go to jail, they’re gonna deport me and we spent eight weeks of training for no (expletive) reason.”

What do you make of the situation between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis?