Sean Strickland sends Dricus Du Plessis a warning ahead of UFC 312.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) runs things back with middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the Feb. 8 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
The former middleweight champion is adamant that he was robbed in his split decision loss to Du Plessis at UFC 297, and plans on marking up the South African’s face again in their rematch.
“It comes down to what I said before about f*cking Dricus on that short bus,” Strickland told MMA Junkie. “I respect him for it. He goes f*cking full send – full f*cking send, and I respect him for that. But you know, you’re a wrecking ball, I’m a f*cking scalpel.
“It just comes down to who’s better. I think I was better last time, I think I’m better this time. I think I’m going to f*cking piece you apart. Your face will look the exact same after, if not worse.”
Strickland insists things aren’t personal with Du Plessis, but thinks the judges were swayed by the wrong things in their first fight.
“I feel like more I got robbed,” Strickland said. “I feel like that headbutt changed things. It changed the optics, the dynamics. It’s not personal in the sense that I hate Dricus. It’s just personal in the sense that we need to fight in a f*cking five-round war and see what happens.”
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