DOMINANT South Africa's Dricus du Plessis (R) fights Sean Strickland of the US during their men's middleweight division event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 312 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on February 9, 2025. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP
Image: Saeed Khan/AFP
Never one to shy away from a fight or a jab of the verbal kind, Dricus du Plessis made sure to tell Sean Strickland just what he thought of his face after their UFC middleweight championship clash in Sydney on Sunday.
Du Plessis beat Strickland for the second time in his career, in an entertaining clash which went the full five rounds.
During the fight, Du Plessis landed a right hook to the face of Strickland which broke the American’s nose in the fourth round.
As the blood poured from Strickland’s nose, the pair continued their fight as Du Plessis continued in dominant fashion.
After the fight, the pair seemed to leave their battle mindsets behind and instead shared in a bit of banter.
In his post fight press conference, Du Plessis shared what he said to Strickland.
“I told him that he was ugly before obviously when we fought because he’s not a pretty person but when I saw him after that when I hit him in the nose I said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you got uglier’ and he did, I was like, ‘Your nose is so screwed up now’,” Du Plessis said.
“He tried to break his nose back in the middle of the fight and for some weird reason, I was giving him the opportunity I was like, okay, let him get his nose (back in place) and then I was like, no, punch this guy in the face while he’s trying to do this.”
Later on Sunday, SA minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie came out in support of Du Plessis as an ambassador of South Africa, and hinting that the UFC champion’s affiliation with Donald Trump didn’t matter.
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