I don’t know that anyone in the combat sports world was truly shocked that Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis came to blows while in attendance at UFC 296.
Just prior to the event, Du Plessis and Strickland traded fairly vicious words at the presser. Du Plessis referred back to Strickland’s abusive father and violent childhood, while Strickland busted out the slurs and attack the South African’s relationship with his coach. It was an ugly scene, and Strickland in particular looked quite perturbed after the trash talk exchange.
UFC CEO Dana White took the blame, explaining that it was his (bad) decision to allow Strickland and Du Plessis to be seated close together. Seeing as UFC quickly put together and shared video of the brawl — and there were no consequences for either man — the promotion doesn’t seem too upset that it happened either.
This has raised the question: was it staged? UFC Welterweight contender Gilbert Burns and his family were front row to the mini scrap, and according to “Durinho,” it was a genuine brawl … that Strickland explained ahead of time would probably happen.
“That was my wife and kid,” Burns explained, referring to the people Strickland waved aside before lunging at Du Plessis. “And then when Sean came, he came and then he kind of looked at the guy. I think he’s already like ‘Man s—t.’ You brought your wife and your kids, and I say yes. And he said, ‘yeah this fricking guy is right there. I might do stuff with this guy.’
“That was before the fight! When he walked in, he already had the thing in his head. [Strickland said] If I do something, I’ll give you the heads up. Whenever the things start going down, this guy [Strickland] kind of look at me and said, ‘Now!’”
Strickland and Du Plessis are scheduled to officially fight at UFC 297 on January 20, so any injury in the melee could’ve derailed their actual contest! Fortunately, Burns revealed that even from his close angle, no serious shots connected.
“They hit each other a little bit. People didn’t see that side of the camera. We saw because it was right there. There was kind of a little bit back-and-forth, but it was nothing clean. And then Dana came after the fight, like what happened, did anyone get hurt, anyone need anything? No, nothing happened to anyone. Even those guys, they fought each other.”
They’ll have a second chance to settle the bad blood in just a few more weeks.
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