From the moment Sean Strickland walked into T-Mobile Arena, he knew he was going to throw hands with Dricus Du Plessis.
24 hours ahead of the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of the year, the reigning middleweight world champion engaged in a heated verbal exchange with Du Plessis, the man scheduled to challenge him for the 185-pound crown at UFC 297 next month. Given the intensity of their back-and-forth at the Seasonal Press Conference, it’s no surprise that Strickland reacted the way he did once he discovered that the South African standout was seated within arms reach.
However, once footage of the all-out brawl hit social media, fight fans were immediately skeptical, suggesting that the incident was planned out like something out of Vince McMahaon’s promotional playbook.
Gilbert Burns and his family had a front-row seat for the incident and the one-time UFC title challenger revealed on the JAXXON podcast that, while the scuffle itself was 100% real, it was anything, but impromptu.
“That was my wife and kid,” Burns explained, referring to the people Strickland waved aside before lunging at Du Plessis. “And then when Sean came, he came and then he kind of looked at the guy. I think he’s already like ‘Man sh*t. You brought your wife and your kids,’ and I say yes. And he said, ‘Yeah this fricking guy is right there. I might do stuff with this guy.’
“That was before the fight! When he walked in, he already had the thing in his head. [Strickland said] If I do something, I’ll give you the heads up. Whenever the things start going down, this guy [Strickland] kind of look at me and said, ‘Now!’”
Gilbert Burns Says Dana White Was Quick to React During Sean Strickland/Dricus Du Plessis Incident
Burns says UFC CEO Dana White was quick to jump in and help quell the chaos. Fortunately, nobody was injured during the incident.
“They hit each other a little bit,” Burns continued. “People didn’t see that side of the camera. We saw because it was right there. There was kind of a little bit back-and-forth, but it was nothing clean. And then Dana came after the fight, like what happened, did anyone get hurt, anyone need anything? No, nothing happened to anyone. Even those guys, they fought each other.”
Sean Strickland will put his title on the line for the first time on January 20 since scoring a shocking unanimous decision victory over Israel Adesanya in September.
Two months prior, DDP solidified his spot as the next man in line following a brutal second-round KO of former titleholder Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Du Plessis has won eight in a row going into his first shot at a world title.
