Dricus Du Plessis calls Sean Strickland a 'real man' after UFC 296 brawl

The cage side brawl between UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and his upcoming opponent Dricus Du Plessis was the biggest story to come out of UFC 296. The two future foes started their fight early when at the UFC 2024 seasonal press conference verbal jabs were traded and buttons were pushed.

Strickland, known for his controversial and over-the-top trash talk was triggered when Du Plessis brought up the abuse he suffered as a child. The pair were then seated next to each other for the fights the following day and Strickland jumped over a row of seats to assault Du Plessis.

That brawl actually earned Du Plessis respect, according to a recent interview.

“There’s no hard feelings,” Du Plessis said. “I still have the world’s respect for Sean Strickland. He’s a real man. I said it, and he showed that). I mean, he stood up for himself and he did what he – that’s what a real man does."

He continued, “He stood up for himself. Listen, did he behave like a champion? Probably not. But at the end of the day, champion or not, we are fighters. We are not football players. We are not sprinters. We are fighters, and that’s what we do. It’s in our DNA.”

As for himself, he says he was calm throughout the encounter.

“For me, I was completely calm about – I wasn’t angry,” Du Plessis said. “I was having fun, and the security was like, ‘You need to chill.’ I’m like, ‘I’m as chill – I can’t be more chill. What do you want from me?'”

Strickland and Du Plessis fight in the main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto, Canada.