Dricus du Plessis doubles down on ‘Mr. Moral Compass’ Sean Strickland: “He had that victim mentality”
UFC middleweight contender Dricus du Plessis doesn’t care about Sean Strickland’s recent comments.
The rivalry between ‘Stillknocks’ and ‘Tarzan’ has quickly, quickly become a heated one. Following Sean Strickland’s win over Israel Adesanya in September, he became UFC champion. This Saturday night in Canada, he will look to make his first title defense against the rising Dricus du Plessis.
Last month at the promotion’s seasonal press conference, the two middleweights got heated. At the presser, Dricus du Plessis publically mocked the abuse that Sean Strickland suffered at the hands of his father. The middleweight champion later attacked the South African in the crowd at UFC 296 that week.
To his credit, Dana White took the blame for the incident and said he shouldn’t have sat the two so close. However, Gilbert Burns later revealed that Sean Strickland had tipped him off about his plans to fight Dricus du Plessis that night. In the eyes of the UFC champion, he was completely justified.
In an emotional interview with Theo Von weeks later, Sean Strickland explained that his abuse, as well as other issues, should be off-limits regarding trash talk. Earlier today, the UFC champion threatened to stab his opponent, if it was brought up this week. Despite that threat, Dricus du Plessis isn’t deterred from speaking.
Earlier today on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Dricus du Plessis again aimed at Sean Strickland. There, the rising middleweight contender stated that the champion doesn’t get to set limits on trash-talk. Especially considering he’s mocked other fighters, such as Khalil Rountree, and the late Shalie Lipp.
Dricus du Plessis doubles down on trash talk comments after Sean Strickland’s threat
“Watching grown men cry isn’t really my genre,” Dricus du Plessis responded when asked if he saw Sean Strickland’s recent emotional interview with comedian Theo Von. “But, yeah, I’m glad he got it out now. That’s the end of it. He had a lot to say about Khalil Rountree crying, how weak of a man, ‘beta male’ Khalil was for crying. Then he goes and does the same thing, just on a bigger stage.”
He continued, “…Whatever he says, doesn’t matter. He’s quite a funny character, I actually enjoy him. [But] the hypocrisy is what, that’s the one area where people could lose respect for Sean Strickland. He’s unapologetically himself. But as soon as he was on the receiving end for the very first time when I was on that mic, we saw him backpedal. Trying to play sympathy, he had that victim mentality immediately.”
“You can’t do that, if you say the things you say.” Dricus du Plessis concluded. “Talking about ‘people can’t dodge busses’ about a fighter who died. Is that not over the line? So you, you ‘Mr. Moral Compass’, don’t get to decide where the line is.”
What do you make of these comments? Are you excited for UFC 296 this Saturday? Who do you have in the middleweight main event?
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