Sean Strickland went off the rails as he responded to an Australian newspaper’s plea to Dricus Du Plessis.
Strickland faces du Plessis this Sunday in the main event of UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, and has the opportunity to exact revenge on the man he dropped his UFC middleweight title to one year ago.
Strickland is renowned for his outspoken character and usually opts for a controversial take on hot topics in his unhinged interviews.
The Daily Telegraph, based in Sydney, led their back page story on Thursday with the headline: ‘Will someone, please…knock this guy out’.
The back page of the biggest paper in Australia referred to Strickland as ‘UFC’s biggest imbecile’ following remarks the American had made about the country and their gun laws.
Strickland, 33, had took aim at Australia ahead of his bout with du Plessis, saying the country had a ‘lack of freedom’, while referring to Aussie’s as ‘English white trash’.
“I come to this f****** country and I talk about freedom of speech, and guns, and taxes,” he said at UFC 312’s press conference.
“And you got these f****** communists in the media trying to f****** put me down.
“Why? Because you want to control the media and you don’t like freedom of speech.”
Strickland’s rivalry Down Under has been heating up all week since he first took aim at the country during UFC 312’s media day.
“You guys have got a lot of cameras here – red light cameras, cell phone cameras, seatbelt cameras, speed cameras,” Strickland said.
“It’s real f****** communist here…But it’s a really beautiful country, I would consider Australians as English white trash. Some Irish too, you know they sent the lot here.
“As an American white trash I feel like I have a lot in common with you f******.”
This will be the second time Strickland steps foot into the octagon with du Plessis.
The pair clashed at UFC 297 in January 2024 when Strickland lost out to a razor-thin split decision.
Strickland had landed the more damaging strikes throughout the bout as du Plessis went five rounds for the first time in his UFC career.
However, the South African was able to control Strickland on the ground and his six successful takedowns out of an attempted 11 won him the fight.
His rematch against du Plessis will be Strickland’s 23rd bout in Dana White‘s promotion since making his debut in March 2014.
He was in and around the top middleweight contenders for years, fighting the likes of Alex Pereira and beating names such as Uriah Hall until he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime.
Strickland shocked the world when he outpointed Israel Adesanya in a five-round domination to claim the UFC middleweight title at UFC 293 in September 2023.
The 33-year-old then dropped his belt to du Plessis in the first defence of it before earning another shot at the 185-pounds strap after defeating Brazil’s Paulo Costa via split decision at UFC 302 in June.
He boasts a pro MMA record of 29-6, while his opponent, ‘Stillknocks’, has lost just two of his 24 career bouts and remains undefeated in the UFC.
Elsewhere at UFC 312, Zhang Weili defends her strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event.
New Zealander Justin Tafa fights on the main card too, while Australian’s Jimmy Crute and Jake Matthews feature.
UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis (January, 2024)
Stats
- Sean Strickland
Significant strikes – 173 of 408
Total strikes – 183 of 419
Takedowns – 0 of 0
- Dricus Du Plessis
Significant strikes – 137 of 354
Total strikes – 140 of 358
Takedowns – 6 of 11