Dricus Du Plessis didn’t even think about pressing charges against Sean Strickland after the in-crowd incident at UFC 296 which could have impacted their UFC 297 title fight.
Du Plessis is set to challenge Strickland for the middleweight title on Jan. 20 in Toronto in an intriguing matchup. However, at UFC 296, the two sat right near each other and as they began trash-talking, Strickland jumped a row and started punching Du Plessis.
Although Strickland attacked Du Plessis, the South African says he gained respect for the middleweight champ for how he handled it.
“I took on his manliness. I was in his face. I told him, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ He stood up for himself. That’s what a real man does. I’m happy for him. I’m glad he has that in him. No matter what the situation, what the repercussions, he didn’t think about it. He said, ‘I’m standing up for myself,’ and rightfully so. That’s where the respect comes from because that’s exactly what I would’ve done,” Du Plessis said to MMAJunkie.
Even though Dricus Du Plessis gained respect for Sean Strickland for how he handled the matter, the police weren’t happy with the middleweight champ.
Dricus Du Plessis declined to press charges against Sean Strickland
According to Dricus Du Plessis, after the altercation, Dana White came up to him and said he could press charges if he wanted.
However, Du Plessis was adamant he didn’t want to do that to Strickland as he didn’t want to risk his title fight not happening.
“I know Dana came to me and said, ‘Listen, this is the case. We’re really sorry about this.’ Obviously, the police had him and charges can be pressed because that’s assault,” Du Plessis said. “It’s outside of a professional arena. They didn’t try to convince me otherwise at all. They literally said, ‘If you feel like that was uncalled for, we completely understand if you want to press charges and take this further.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. Please no.’
“We are two fighters. It was a good old scrap like we did before we became professionals. I just paused and was like, ‘I would even take the blame if that’s possible, just to make sure that nothing happens to him.’ We know to come to Canada, they are very strict. They are very, very strict in getting into the country. I just wanted to make sure that if the fight wasn’t in jeopardy. I never even think of Sean Strickland trying to get away. He’s the type of guy who’s always game. He’s a guy who will go out on his shield and do it with honor,” Du Plessis continued.
Instead of Du Plessis not pressing charges, his fight against Strickland for the middleweight title is a go for UFC 297.
