UFC Champ Sean Strickland Threatens To Stab Opponent Before Canada Fight

Summary

• UFC 297 will take place on Jan 20 in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena
• Middleweight champ Sean Strickland will defend his belt against Dricus Du Plessis
• Strickland has promised to stab Du Plessis if he brings up his childhood abuse again

The UFC will stop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to host its first pay per view card of 2024.

UFC 297 will take place at the Scotiabank Arena and will see Middleweight champ Sean Strickland defend his title for the first time against challenger Dricus Du Plessis in the Main Event while the co-Main event will see the vacant women’s bantamweight title on the line as Raquel Pennington fight Mayra Bueno Silva.

Strickland Promises To Stab Du Plesiss Via Text

This UFC middleweight championship fight gained a lot of momentum after an explosive press conference in December 2023 when Strickland started slinging mud by alleging that Du Plessis and his coach engaged in homosexual activities. The South African responded by referring to Strickland’s troubled childhood where he suffered abuse at the hands of his father.

That did not go down well with the champ who got very emotional immediately and said that Du Plessis has touched a raw nerve. He then made it clear that Du Plessis should not be bringing childhood abuse into the fight which prompted Du Plessis to accuse Strickland of being able to dish it out to other fighters but not able to take it when they gave it back to him!

Strickland has now confirmed that he sent Du Plessis a text message and told him that if he ever brought up his childhood abuse again, he would stab him and not worry about going to jail.

Du Plessis Not Worried About Stabbing Threat

Du Plessis has since addressed the stabbing threat and said while he wasn’t going to stress on Sean Strickland’s childhood abuse, he wasn’t afraid of getting stabbed.

In an interview, Du Plessis said

I don’t regret anything. I said what I said. Listen, if you’re dishing it out, you’re going to get it. I’m not going to keep on hammering on it, but I stand by what I said. I did not joke about it. What happened was fact. Obviously, it had a massive effect on him. I won’t be hammering on that because it’s not necessary. I got the results I wanted. I don’t need to hammer on one thing. I said what I said, what happened, happened, there’s no animosity, from my side at least. I’m here to do my business. I’m here to win a fight.