- Sean Strickland shared his honest take on Dricus du Plessis ahead of UFC 297
- “Tarzan” thinks Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t deserve a crack at the title
Sean Strickland is now set to defend his middleweight title against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297. Ahead of the match, “Tarzan” spoke his mind about “Stillknocks” and why Khamzat Chimaev didn’t deserve to get the title shot.
Dricus is awkwardly good
Speaking to his YouTube channel, Strickland admitted that he is expecting an all-out war come fight night at UFC 297 against Du Plessis. Moreover, the reigning champ is certain “Stillknocks” is a tougher challenge than Chimaev.
“It’s always going to be a war. I think Dricus is like so awkward, he’s good. Where it’s like, you know, I’m a million times better than him, I spar guys he’s fought, I know who he is. But he’s so awkward, he’s good. It’s gonna be a f**king war. He’ll be a tougher fight than Chimaev,” Strickland explained. “… He’s next in line, he f**king deserves it.”
Borz is only good for tickets
Prior to being booked against Du Plessis, Strickland was being heavily linked to a title fight with Chimaev, whom he used to spar with in the past. Despite Chimaev’s impressive resume, “Tarzan” thinks “Borz” is only being thrown in the mix because he could sell tickets.
“Chimaev, he doesn’t f**king deserve it. We all know that. The only reason why Chimaev gets that shot is because he sells a lot of tickets. That’s it,” Strickland pointed out. “At the end of the day, man, I’m happy with Dricus,” Strickland said. “It’s gonna be a hell of a fight, and I’m just happy the UFC is doing the right thing.”
Du Plessis is coming in off a second-round TKO win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. He is currently on a 6-0 run under the UFC banner. On the other hand, Strickland will try and defend his UFC middleweight crown after dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 via a dominant decision victory.
Chimaev, meanwhile, remains undefeated in the UFC with a win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. He is currently ranked No. 8 in the 185-pound division.
Check out Strickland’s full video below:
