UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland has warned his UFC 297 opponent Dricus Du Plessis that he’ll get “stabbed” if he jokes about his childhood abuse again.
Sean Strickland is set to face off against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in Toronto, and ahead of the fight week festivities, the champ issued a threat to his South African nemesis.
During his YouTube show ‘The Man Dance,’ Strickland revealed that he sent Du Plessis a message warning him that there would be severe consequences if he brought up his childhood abuse again. The UFC fighter has opened up about his struggles including how his father allegedly threatened to kill his mom.
“I sent him a message and I was like, ‘Dude listen, Dricus, we’re gonna go try to murder each other, but if you bring that sh*t up again, I will f**king stab you.’ Press conference, weigh-in, you bring that up,” he began before jumping to Du Plessis’s reaction. “He was cool about it.”
Sean Strickland threatens to “stab” Dricus Du Plessis over childhood abuse
According to Strickland, the remarks he made crossed a line, but the UFC fighter is not afraid to cross his own line in the event that comments about childhood abuse he suffered at the hands of his dad are made again.
“I’m not telling you I don’t wanna fight you, Dricus, I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that’s a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting,” he recalled. “If I go to Canada and you bring that up, guess what? I’m gonna go to jail, they’re gonna deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f**king reason.”
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Du Plessis has had a target on his back ever since he made comments about Strickland’s childhood.
Notably, Strickland jumped his opponent at UFC 296 in an altercation that had to be broken up by security. The attack actually earned some praise from DDP, who said, “that’s what a real man does.”
The UFC 297 press conference is scheduled for January 18, while weigh-ins are a day later, so we’ll have to see if any sort of shenanigans occur ahead of their match on January 20.