Dricus du Plessis responds after being taunted by Sean Strickland over bringing "belt back to the US": "Yes but it’ll be a paid appearance"
Dricus du Plessis reacted to Sean Strickland claiming he will regain the UFC middleweight title.
In January at UFC 297, Strickland lost the 185-pound title in his first defense against du Plessis. The South African fighter showcased a gritty performance in their five-round battle and managed to secure a split-decision win to become the new middleweight king.
Five months later, Strickland returned to the octagon and began his journey back to UFC gold with a split-decision win against Paulo Costa. 'Tarzan' believes his latest performance is deserving of a title shot, which he's voiced numerous times in interviews and on social media.
Earlier today, Strickland took to Instagram and posted a video of Dana White saying he believes du Plessis lost in the UFC 297 main event. The 33-year-old added the following caption to voice his confidence moving forward:
"We're bringing the belt back to the US..."
Du Plessis saw Strickland's Instagram post and shared his reaction in the comments section:
"Yes but it’ll be a paid appearance."
Du Plessis has business to take care of before a potential rematch with Sean Strickland. On Aug. 17, he will defend his middleweight throne against Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 main event, which goes down inside RAC Arena in Australia.
Sean Strickland isn't interested in the No.1 contender bout before potential Dricus du Plessis rematch
Sean Strickland is ranked No.1 in the UFC middleweight division, but he's not the only contender closing in on a title shot. No.3-ranked Robert Whittaker is coming off impressive performances against Paulo Costa (unanimous decision) and Ikram Aliskerov (first-round knockout).
There have been calls for Whittaker and Strickland to potentially fight in a No.1 contender bout while Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya battle for the undisputed world title. With that said, Strickland has continuously claimed he will not make another octagon appearance without a world title on the line.
It should be noted that the middleweight title picture is confusing due to previous results. Whittaker holds losses against du Plessis and twice against Adesanya, while Strickland suffered the controversial defeat at UFC 297 and has a win against Adesanya from September 2023.