Sean Strickland is trying to play mind games with Dricus du Plessis ahead of their middleweight title rematch at UFC 312. But unlike UFC 297, where he made it personal and ended up crying himself, this time Strickland is challenging the champion to be a man, suggesting a no-takedown agreement for their fight!
Strickland sprinkled in some homophobia and claimed that wrestling and choking your opponents out was ‘gay’. He provided no further explanations about it.
“Listen dutchman…I am going to need you to stand up and not go to your knees. And we’re going to f*****g strike like men. I know you like to wrestle and choke people out, and do some gay s**t.”
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It should be noted that despite his love for striking, Strickland‘s ‘Philly Shell’ style of fighting has often been dubbed boring. He does march forward toward his opponents and put on the pace but ultimately does very little to finish the fights. 11 of his 16 wins the the UFC have come by the way of judges’ decisions.
EVEN AT FUCKING 2X SPEED HE’S FUCKING BORING pic.twitter.com/X1wvZ4gFOP
— Sean Strickland Fan (@SeanKoed) December 18, 2024
Du Plessis, on the other hand, remains a maverick with a method to madness that nobody has been able to figure out yet. This marks his second title defense after submitting Israel Adesanya in August, extending his winning streak to 10.
Earlier last week, reflecting on his own fight against DDP with fellow middleweight Robert Whittaker, Adensanya had claimed that du Plessis was the “best s**t fighter” of all time.
Even Whittaker chimed in claiming he couldn’t blame du Plessis since whatever awkward technique he uses in a fight, it always works!
“He’s the best shit fighter in the world!” – Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker bonding over their confusion for Dricus Du Plessis’ mad fight style pic.twitter.com/FhxK5yJgW6
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) January 17, 2025
So, even if DDP accepts Strickland’s challenge and agrees to a strikefest, it will take some serious mathematical skills to develop and execute a plan. Interestingly, Strickland’s coach believes he has one.
“Sean has to be a dog”
That’s the plan! Coach, Eric Nicksick acknowledged that Strickland’s march-march-jab-march approach to fighting just won’t jibe with DDP’s unique skills. It certainly won’t play in front of judges in Australia, where the PPV is being hosted.
“He really needs to take the fight to him. Just sitting back and jabbing through won’t be enough. Judges don’t always give credit for the jab, even if it’s scoring.
Strickland will have to adopt a more aggressive approach, which would leave him susceptible to takedowns and submissions.
This could perhaps explain why he wants Du Plessis to promise him a striking match on the day of reckoning. Unfortunately, DDP has never been bound by convention.
