FILE - Sean Strickland of the United States, left, fought South Africa's Dricus Du Plessis in a middleweight title bout during UFC 297 in January.
Image: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images via AFP
UFC middleweight champions Dricus du Plessis says Sean Strickland defensive MMA style is boring and is more geared towards him surviving fights than trying to win them outright.
Du Plessis made history when he dethroned Strickland to become the new UFC Middleweight champion and the first South African UFC champion after a split-decision following a gruelling five-round fight in Canada in January last year.
Du Plessis and Strickland will meet again in the early hours of Sunday morning (SA time) at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. This will be Du Plessis' second defence of his title after he beat Israel Adesanya via submission in Perth, Western Australia in August.
Speaking on the Straight Talk podcast with Mark Bouris, Du Plessis said Strickland's style, while effective, is not entertaining and not giving the paying public their money's worth.
"He said to the death before our last fight, but the man just jabbed for five rounds. If you look at the stats, for 23 minutes I went forward and for 2 minutes he went forward. That is a clear indication of who was there to attack and who was there to defend," Du Plessis said.
Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland is going to be a grudge match.
Image: IOL
"But that is his style, and it's effective. Let's not pretend like Sean Strickland's fight are entertaining. The man has eight split decisions, six victories, and two defeats, one against me. That is not somebody looking for an exciting fight.
"He is not doing anything to win the fight, but also not doing anything to lose the fight. He is fighting not to lose. He is prioritising defence, while I'm prioritising attack to give the people a show and fight."
Bouris asked Du Plessis how he gets himself up for a fight ahead of what is likely to be another brutal affair against Strickland. Both men were battered and bruised after their last meeting, and there will be no love lost when they enter the octagon on Sunday morning. Strickland has already declared that “It is going to be a f****** war”.
Du Plessis says the motto of the modern-day gladiator is to kill or be killed. But what goes on in the arena, must stay in the area.
“When I go in there, if there’s no ref – the ref doesn’t stop it, I’m not stopping,” Du Plessis said. “I can be sitting on you for ten minutes bashing your face in. If the ref doesn’t say ‘Stop,’ I’m not stopping.
"And that is the question that me, as a modern-day gladiator has to ask myself: ‘am still willing to die?’ Absolutely, that’s easy. It’s 'are you willing to kill a man in front of his family?' Yes, I am. And that’s why I’m the world champion, because I say 'Yes' to that question every single time.”
"But that is not Dricus du Plessis outside of the octagon. The man in society and the man in the area are two different people."
@JohnGoliath82