Dricus Du Plessis reveals that he refused to press charges against Strickland and once again praises the champion

S. Strickland faces D. Du Plessis in the UFC 297. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

Sean Strickland e Dricus Du Plessis will face each other for the middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg) in the main fight of the UFC 297, on January 21st. The two, however, already had their first unofficial confrontation outside the Octagon in December, when the champion attacked the challenger in the audience. UFC 296. Victim of the attack, Du Plessis guarantees that he never thought about pressing charges.

In an interview with the North American website 'MMA Junkie', Du Plessis revealed an apology from Dana White and assured that he could have filed complaints against Strickland at the time, but did not do so for fear of jeopardizing the title fight. at the UFC 297.

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“Dana came to me and said she was sorry. Obviously the police detained him (Strickland) and charges could be filed because it was an assault. It was outside of a professional arena. Nobody tried to convince me otherwise. They literally said they understood if I wanted to press charges and take it further, but I said no. We are two fighters. It was a good old fight, like we did before we turned pro. I said I would even take the blame if possible, just to make sure nothing happened to him. We know it is very difficult to enter Canada. I just wanted to make sure the fight wasn't at risk. I never even thought about Sean Strickland trying to escape. He's the kind of guy who's always up for the game. He is a guy who puts his face forward and does everything with honor”, ​​said the challenger.

Contrary to what many could imagine, what happened served to increase the respect of Dricus Du Plessis em relação a Sean Strickland as middleweight champion.

“I messed with his virility. I got in his face and asked what he would do about it. He assured himself. That's what a real man does. I'm glad he has that in him. No matter the situation, the repercussions, he didn't think about it. He needed to defend himself and he did. That’s where the respect came from, because that’s exactly what I would have done,” he concluded.