According to Dricus Du Plessis, Sean Strickland thought he lost their fight in its immediate aftermath at UFC 297.
Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) dethroned Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) to become middleweight champion in a tightly contested main event in Toronto earlier this month.
Days after their fight, Strickland said he thought he won, but Du Plessis revealed that that’s not what Strickland told him before the judges rendered their scorecards.
“This is the first time publicly I’ll say this: He came to me in the cage directly before they announced me as the new champion. I went to him and I shook his hand and I said, ‘You’re a warrior. Well done – (that) was a great fight.’ And he said, ‘No, you definitely beat me,'” Du Plessis told SuperSport.
“He said to me, ‘You deserve it. You won that fight. You beat me.’ And I said, ‘I also think so. I have to agree with you on that.’ After I won the fight, you could see in his face – he knew. When the ref held our hands, he knew he wasn’t winning that fight.”
Strickland pointed to an alleged head butt by Du Plessis that he claimed impaired his vision and contributed to the outcome of the fight. Du Plessis denied the clash of heads.
“Of course, he talks about the head butt – which is not true,” Du Plessis said. “I remember the exact punch according with when his eyes started bleeding. Then afterwards when we went in the doctor’s rooms, he came to me and he said, ‘You’re a warrior. I wouldn’t have wanted to lose to anybody else because you deserve this.’
“But then he goes on Twitter and he says, ‘You will never be a champion’ or something along those lines. Just the way he said it … to ask for a rematch is one thing in a way you want to. But I have to say I have nothing against the guy. What I’ve experienced is not really I think he’s an emotional guy. let’s be honest. But I don’t think he’s a bad dude.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
