Dricus Du Plessis warned not to cross this line again

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has threatened Dricus Du Plessis with stabbing ahead of UFC 297.

Strickland has taken exception to Du Plessis referencing his childhood marked by physical abuse in his trash talk.

DRICUS DU PLESSIS WARNED

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He says that he contacted the South African MMA star after he heard the comments, which he considered to be ‘crossing the line’.

“Bro, why are you so angry?” 

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Du Plessis told Strickland last month. 

“You think your dad beat the sh*t out of you? Your dad doesn’t have sh*t on me. 

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“I’m going to show you what it’s like to beat you. Every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you – every single one. The one where you lie in bed at night and your dad comes in and he beats the sh*t out of you.”

LINGERING WORDS

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Du Plessis’ words lingered with Strickland, resulting in a confrontation at T-Mobile Arena, when both men attended UFC 296 and a preceding media day. 

In a recent interview with comedian and podcaster Theo Von, Strickland was moved to tears as he relived his youth, and he stated that he will not allow Du Plessis to go there again.

“I actually sent him a message,” Strickland said on his YouTube channel. “‘Dude, listen, Dricus: We’re going to go try to murder each other, but if you bring that sh*t up again, I will f*cking stab you. Press conference, weigh-in … he was cool about it.

“I’m not telling you I don’t want to fight you. Dricus. I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that’s a line that, when crossed, it transcends fighting. If I go to Canada and you bring that up, guess what? I’m going to go to jail, they’re going to deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f*cking reason.”

Strickland faces Du Plessis in a title bout expected to start at 05:00 on Sunday, 21 January 2023 (SAST).