Dricus du Plessis believes Sean Strickland doesn't deserve next title shot, shows concern for a South Africa matchup
Dricus du Plessis believes Sean Strickland doesn't deserve the next title shot. Additionally, 'Stillknocks' addressed Strickland's recent remarks about not wanting to compete in South Africa.
Du Plessis defended his UFC middleweight title by defeating Israel Adesanya via fourth-round submission. Their grudge match headlined UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 17, 2024 (Aug. 18 local time in Australia).
Strickland had won the title by beating Adesanya via unanimous decision in Sept. 2023. He then lost it via split decision to du Plessis in Jan. 2024, and then bounced back with a split decision victory against Paulo Costa in June 2024.
'Tarzan' recently asserted that he'd rather wait for a title shot until the du Plessis-Adesanya fight is done with rather than continue facing other middleweight contenders.
Heading into UFC 305, UFC CEO Dana White indicated that Strickland will face the du Plessis-Adesanya winner for the title.
Moreover, taking to X, Strickland jibed that he wouldn't want to compete in du Plessis' native South Africa. 'Tarzan' cited the supposed corruption, racism, poverty, and threat of civil war as reasons for not wanting to fight in that country.
After Dricus du Plessis' win at UFC 305, former UFC middleweight champion and reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira claimed that he could return to middleweight one more time. During the UFC 305 post-fight press conference, du Plessis disapproved, adding that he'd rather move up to light heavyweight and fight Pereira.
Moreover, alluding to Strickland's polarizing personality and penchant for getting into confrontational situations, Dricus du Plessis opined that the American might get into trouble in South Africa. Referencing Strickland's tweet, du Plessis stated:
"I actually saw something like that. But, I mean, oh, my man, you can see Sean Strickland. South Africa, it's different. It's different. We saw that tonight. I said it's the jungle out there. Sean Strickland, the way he does things, yeah, I hope he makes it to the fight."
Check out du Plessis' comments about Strickland below:
Dricus du Plessis lauds Robert Whittaker, addresses potential rematches against him and Sean Strickland
Dricus du Plessis was questioned whether he wants to go through the extremely personal, back-and-forth trash talk in the build-up to another fight against Sean Strickland. The 30-year-old answered by making an allusion to the time he made Strickland emotional at their pre-fight press conference and cry in a subsequent interview. He jestingly said:
"I don't know. I mean, does he want to cry again?"
When asked who he thinks is more deserving of the next title shot, du Plessis deemed Robert Whittaker more worthy than Strickland. Incidentally, du Plessis knocked Whittaker out in July 2023. 'Stillknocks' praised Whittaker's stoppage in his short-notice fight against Ikram Aliskerov in June and for agreeing to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 (Oct. 26, 2024).
Furthermore, he opined that Whittaker beat Costa more impressively than Strickland did. Asserting that he'll fight anyone the UFC books him against, 'Stillknocks' said:
"Robert Whittaker deserves the shot. I think he's being done over ... Sean Strickland's only saving grace is the fact that he went a decision with me ... So, Strickland, right now, that's the fight that people want to see. So, that's what you get. But Whittaker is definitely the one that's being done over in this, in my opinion. He's more deserving, but, you know, life's not fair."
Watch Dricus du Plessis' post-fight press conference below (*comments on Strickland crying at 12:00; comments on possibly facing Strickland in South Africa at 14:13; comments on Whittaker at 18:54-20:33):