Sean Strickland is still not over his loss to Dricus Du Plessis and says that he will personally put the middleweight around Du Plessis’ waist if he is beaten fair and square in a rematch.
Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland wants a rematch with Dricus Du Plessis badly. According to Tarzan, it’s not about the belt. But it’s about proving who is the better between the two of them.
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Du Plessis defeated Strickland via a narrow split decision. However, Sean continues to believe that he won the fight. And the only way to settle the issue would be to fight again. And if he loses the rematch fair and square, he says he would be the first one to crown Du Plessis as the real champion.
“I just know you didn’t fu****g win. Dana thought, the world thought that I won. The striking thought that I won. Just run the sh** back. Let’s fu* handle it. If you beat me fair and square, I’ll put the fu****g belt around your waist.”
Sean Strickland
Strickland and Du Plessis fought in a back-and-forth war at the main event of UFC 297 last January 20 in Toronto. Although Du Plessis took the fight via the judge’s scorecards, official fight stats showed that Strickland outlanded Du Plessis 173 to 137 in significant strikes landed. Tarzan was also the busier fighter with 419 total strikes thrown compared to Dricus’ 359.
The judges gave more weight to DuPlessis’ completing six out of 11 takedowns in the fight despite the fact that the South African MMA star only managed a total control time of two minutes and eight seconds from those six takedowns.
But more than the numbers, what Strickland is mad about is the ‘accidental’ headbutt that caused a nasty cut above Strickland’s eye. The American had to endure the blood coming out of his eye the rest of the fight.
Despite blood distracting his vision, Strickland still managed to outstrike Du Plessis after five rounds. But when it was time to score the bout, the judges gave Dricus the nod. Many fight fans believe that Strickland won. UFC President Dana White even admitted that he thought Sean won that bout. Heck, even Du Plessis looked like he lost the fight during the post-event press conference.
Well, the only way to settle the score would be a rematch. Right now, however, both Du Plessis and the UFC don’t seem too keen on giving Strickland the runback. That’s probably why Sean is talking a lot to the media.