The altercation between the current UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at the UFC 2024 Pre Season press conference indicated that he had a troubled childhood. Strickland got infuriated when his South African rival made a few distasteful comments about his late father. Most fans may remember that Du Plessis mentioned Strickland had a physically abusive father. Well, several pieces of information say that he was indeed right. ‘Tarzan’s’ father wasn’t someone whom most kids would love to have as a father.
Strickland has talked about his abusive father in several public appearances as well. He has also revealed that he was an alcoholic and physically abusive towards not only him but also his mother. In one of his podcast appearances, the Anaheim native revealed that he couldn’t sleep at home due to his father’s abusiveness.
It made him fall asleep in between his classes. However, his teachers, instead of realizing his situation, blamed it all on him. Strickland said that things had gone so dire that he even stopped believing in God.
He gave out another instance detailing his dad’s nature on Ariel Helwani’s noted podcast, ‘The MMA Hour’. Strickland revealed how his father used to take out his day-long frustration on him and his mother. He mentioned:
“Let’s say you had something you really loved like a toy or something. He would come home f*cking drunk, maybe he thought my mom cheated on him, and he would just go f*cking break the toy.”
‘Tarzan’ has also mentioned several other instances of the unruly relationship with his dad over the entire length of ‘The MMA Hour’ episode. Things were so severe between the two that Strickland hardly showcased any remorse while talking about his father’s death in the episode.
However, it was apparent that whatever Strickland’s relationship with his father may be, he didn’t like Du Plessis’ foul remarks related to him. Most fans may know that it led to a pretty severe consequence.
The UFC 2024 Season Press conference may be the reason behind Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis’ scuffle
It was Strickland who fired verbal shots at Du Plessis, initially at the UFC 2024 Season Press Conference. But ‘Stillknocks’ decided to involve Strickland’s abusive father in his reply, which the UFC middleweight champ found too much to take. ‘Tarzan’s’ next words indicated that he got seriously infuriated by Du Plessis’ remarks.
Both of them were present at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to watch the UFC 296. But only a single row of seats separated the two UFC middleweights. After the UFC cameras focused on them, the two got into a violent scuffle. They had to be separated, and both were escorted out of the venue.
The full incident between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at #UFC296 tonight.
Bring on #UFC297 in January! pic.twitter.com/HQt0Uj1jiv
— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023
Nothing regarding such a buildup to a fight is appreciable. Still, it has got a lot of fans deeply excited for the coveted UFC 297 main event between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. Strickland will probably be fighting for a lot more than just defending his UFC title on the night of January 20, 2024.
