HE KICKED MY OZ: Strickland says champion Du Plessis is a bad motherf***er after going down in Australia
POWERFUL: Dricus du Plessis kicks Sean Strickland at UFC 312 in Sydney yesterday
BY VOICE SPORTS TEAM
AMERICAN Sean Strickland says “Dutchman” Dricus du Plessis “kicked his a**” in Sunday’s middleweight UFC title fight.
South African champion Du Plessis outboxed Sean Strickland for 25 minutes en route to a unanimous decision win (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) in the main event of UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.
The fight was never competitive as Strickland (29-7 MMA) stayed on his back foot for nearly the entire duration. Unlike their first encounter 13 months ago, both men were less keen on aggressiveness and more on technicality. A punch from du Plessis (23-2 MMA) in the fourth round opened a gruesome cut on the bridge of Strickland’s nose, the likely climax of the fight.
Du Plessis was gracious in victory, apologising to the fans for not securing a predicted knockout finish from Thursday’s press conference, adding: “Sean [Strickland] is an absolute animal and is deserving of all heart [showed].”
Meanwhile, Strickland was blunt, saying: “The Dutchman [Du Plessis] is a bad motherf***er, he kicked my a** fair and square.
“Props to him.”
Du Plessis then called out Alex Pereira for his next fight, saying: “Since I quoted Achilles before the fight, here’s another Achilles quote, seeing that a certain man is standing across the Octagon.
“Is there no one else? Is there no one else?” shouted Du Plessis, looking into the eyes of the man known as “Poatan”.
In the build-up to the fight, Du Plessis referenced the Greek mythological figure Achilles in response to Strickland, who begged the champion to keep the fight standing and trade fists.
Du Plessis responded: “There are no pacts between lions and men.”
Former middleweight champion Perreira has been eyeing Du Plessis since the latter’s win over former UFC middleweight champion and the great Israel Adesanya (Nigeria) last year.
Pereira offered to move down to 185 pounds again, but Du Plessis offered to come up to 205 pounds instead, with an eye on a second belt.