- Dana White admitted that he made a mistake by letting Sean Strickland sit close to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 296
- “Tarzan” and “Stillknocks” will face each other at UFC 297
UFC president Dana White is not blaming anybody else but himself for the ugly brawl that broke out featuring Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis at UFC 296.
My fault
Speaking to reporters at the UFC 296 post-fight press conference, White came clean about terribly overlooking the seats and ultimately having “Tarzan” and “Stillknocks” sitting close to one another.
“So what kind of an a**h**e sits Strickland next to du Plessis? This a**h**e, that’s who,” White admitted. “I do every seating assignment every week. Yep, how f**king stupid is that? Seriously. I don’t know what humans you can sit Strickland next to, but definitely not du Plessis. I don’t how I missed that.”
“Gentlemen, we are in the fight business. These are the things that happen,” he added.
Dana White takes the blame for sitting Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis next to each other at #UFC296
"I do every seating assignment every week… I don't even know how I missed that." pic.twitter.com/CNtzqPnapK
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 17, 2023
White also revealed that Strickland decided to leave the arena after the brawl, while Du Plessis stayed and talked to them afterward. The brawl made a scene at the event but luckily, nobody was harmed.
Strickland and Du Plessis will settle it inside the Octagon
Judging by how things played out, it’s safe to say that Strickland and Du Plessis can no longer wait to take on each other inside the Octagon. The pair will square off at UFC 297 on January 20 , 2024 in Toronto, Canada.
Ahead of the match, Du Plessis assessed Strickland and assumed that the reigning middleweight champ will be mentally tough from start to finish. Meanwhile, Strickland also doesn’t write off “Stillknocks” as he expects Du Plessis to be a tougher matchup than Khamzat Chimaev.
Strickland will try and defend his middleweight title for the first time after dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. On the other hand, Du Plessis will be making sure that he’s the one who will end Strickland’s reign as the 185-pound division king in his first UFC title shot.
