After defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297, Dricus du Plessis became the first South African champion in the history of promotions. This accomplishment will ensure that he is remembered for all time.
Following the announcement that he had been crowned the new middleweight champion, “Stillknocks” went to the microphone to challenge Israel Adesanya. He did this after raising his hand to the microphone.
Following his appearance in front of the media, he was questioned about whether or not “The Last Stylebender” would be his ideal opponent for the next fight. Because of the injuries that Du Plessis sustained against Strickland, ‘Stillknocks’ was also questioned about whether or not he had a date in mind for their future fight. This is because UFC 300 might be too soon for the fight.
It was stated by the South African that:
An insignificant amount of damage?! Do you recall how attractive I was before we got into this fight? At this point, I appeared to be a cauliflower. I’m in a fairly bad frame of mind right now. Listen, if they are interested in continuing, I am here for another round. I’m not going to place a time limit on [the fight], but UFC 300 sounds like it will be an incredible event.
He responded as follows when asked if the possible conflict he could have with Adesanya was “personal”:
“No, it’s not to be taken personally. It is in no way a personal matter. These are exactly the kinds of fights that fans want to see. When it comes to competition, I want to face the best… Israel Adesanya versus Dricus du Plessis is a match that the spectators are eager to watch. The hype that has already been built up around it is rather substantial.
Dana White shares his thoughts on the result of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis
The main event of UFC 297 was a fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis, which served as a spectacular way to kick off the pay-per-view season for the promotion in 2024.
Both fighters engaged in a fierce battle over all five rounds, with ‘Stillknocks’ emerging victorious with scores of 48-47, 47-48, and 48-47 in a split decision, according to the scorecards of the judges.
Strickland was the winner of the fight, according to certain members of the media, while other members of the media backed the South African. The bout was extremely competitive.
Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, made an appearance in front of the media after the event. It was requested of him to offer his opinion on the outcome of the major event, and he responded as follows:
At the beginning of the last round, I had the score at 2-2, and I believed that Strickland would emerge victorious. To put it another way, the guys who were seated at the same table had the opposite opinion. I must say that it was a really close contest. Over the course of the first two rounds, I felt Strickland looked fantastic. What I mean is that the jab was just stunning. This kind of jab is not seen in mixed martial arts. As for the jabs, they performed just as they were intended to. Both of his eyes, which were swelled shut, were those of Du Plessis.
