"Why would you not throw 12-6 elbows?" - Bo Nickal breaks down UFC 296 brawl between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis
Bo Nickal has addressed Sean Strickland's brawl with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 296, which transpired at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on December 16, 2023.
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Strickland and surging contender du Plessis were seated quite close to one another at UFC 296. During the event, the camera panned to the pair of 185-pounders, and both fighters appeared to be exchanging words.
Strickland turned back to face 'Stillknocks', who was seated a couple of rows behind. 'Tarzan' requested UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns' wife and son to move out of the way, and he then launched a surprise attack at du Plessis. The brawl was swiftly broken up by security personnel and others.
Watch the brawl below:
Undefeated middleweight prospect Bo Nickal, who'll return at UFC 300, has now chimed in on the brawl. In a video clip posted online, Nickal can be seen asserting that Strickland ought to have utilized the 12-6 elbow maneuver against du Plessis.
The 12-6 elbow is banned in professional MMA competition. Nevertheless, Nickal explained that since Strickland was in a street fight situation, not in an MMA bout, he could've used the 12-6 elbows. The American wrestling savant stated:
"That was funny. That was funny how he asked Gilbert's kid to move out of the way. So, he had good technique. He jumped the chair. He got on top of him. There's no rules, bro. Why would you not throw 12 to 6 elbows? Boom! Right on top of the head. Boom! Boom! Like, you know that easily; that was the only thing that I saw. He should have been dropping 12 to 6 right on top of the dome."
Check out Nickal's comments below:
Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis' brawl marked a crescendo in their feud
The Sean Strickland-Dricus du Plessis rivalry has generated significant buzz over the past several weeks. Featuring unrelenting trash talk from both sides, it reached a boiling point in the form of a brawl at UFC 296. Following that, du Plessis implied that Strickland lacked the mental fortitude to be on the receiving end of trash talk.
Many believe that the verbal exchanges during the UFC 2024 seasonal press conference before UFC 296 significantly contributed to Strickland eventually attacking du Plessis.
During the seasonal press conference, Sean Strickland made incendiary remarks regarding UFC bantamweight champion 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's open relationship with his wife. 'Sugar' fired back by bringing up Strickland's self-admittedly traumatic relationship with his late father.
Similarly, Sean Strickland made suggestive comments concerning Dricus du Plessis and the South African fighter's coach. 'Stillknocks' hit back by suggesting that he'll put a dominant beatdown on Strickland, akin to how the latter's father used to beat him.
Strickland subsequently posted an emotional tweet wherein he criticized O'Malley and du Plessis. As displayed below, 'Tarzan' opined that they crossed the line by using serious topics such as child abuse in combat sports trash talk.