"It will not be competitive” - Dricus du Plessis’ camp views Sean Strickland as an “afterthought”, reveals Daniel Cormier
Dricus du Plessis is set to challenge Sean Strickland for the middleweight title at UFC 297 in January.
Both men will enter the bout off the back of superb upset victories, with du Plessis beating Robert Whittaker via TKO at UFC 290 and 'Tarzan' defeating Israel Adesanya via decision at UFC 293.
'Stillknocks', as well as Strickland, were in attendance at last weekend's UFC 296 event. Daniel Cormier, who formed part of the pay-per-view's commentary team, has revealed discussions he had with the South African's team whilst at the event.
According to Cormier, Dricus du Plessis' camp is brimming with confidence ahead of his title fight against Sean Strickland. 'DC' shared details of his conversation with the middleweight contender's team during a recent YouTube video and said this:
"I talked to people close to du Plessis, they believe it is an afterthought that he gets through Sean Strickland. They believe that he is so far ahead of Sean Strickland, that it will not be competitive. I don't know how you can watch that last fight [against Adesanya] and feel like that."
Catch Daniel Cormier's comments below (6:05):
The anticipation for Sean Strickland's clash with Dricus du Plessis is at an all-time high following their brawl in the crowd at UFC 296. Fortunately, neither man nor anyone else was injured during the scuffle, and their title fight will go ahead as planned.
Dricus du Plessis reflects on his brawl with Sean Strickland at UFC 296
With UFC 296 being the final event of the promotion's 2023 calender, there was a 2024 Season press conference held last week Friday. The event featured the main event fighters for UFC 297, UFC 298, and UFC 299, the first three pay-per-view events of next year.
Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis somewhat stole the show, as 'Stillknocks' poked at his opponent by bringing up Strickland's childhood trauma, which made 'Tarzan' more irate than fans had previously seen.
The following day, at UFC 296, the pair sat two rows apart from each other. Given the existing tension, a brief exchange between them led to an all-out brawl in the crowd.
ESPN MMA interviewed Dricus du Plessis after the incident, where he said this:
"It's probably not a good example, but here we are. Things happen, nobody got hurt. All is good... I don't care about him being triggered. He goes and he says whatever he wants... and now there's one thing that's a soft spotted trigger for him and now we're not allowed to say it?"
Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below: