There is no love lost between UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. At UFC 297, the two will finally have a chance to get their hands on the other. Wait, correction, the two will finally get their hands on each other again. The first time they fought was in the stands at UFC 296, which Strickland is now looking at from a new perspective.

During UFC 296, the two middleweight combatants were sitting quite close to each other. A brawl ensued after Du Plessis allegedly kept taunting and heckling Strickland. In a recent interview for UFC 297, Strickland reflected on this scuffle and had more than himself to blame.

Who is responsible for the brawl at UFC 296?

The UFC. At least that would Strickland would assert. In a recent interview with ESPN, the champion opined that the UFC might have purposely made them sit so close to each other. “I think UFC set that up by the way,” he said. In response, Megan Olivi recalled when Dana White, CEO of the UFC, took the onus on his shoulders.

However, at the same time, he felt the need to mention that such behavior should be expected of him. The 32-year-old stated, “You know who I am, I will f*cking kill you. Like I love my life, I do not want to go to prison. But I am the one guy who is okay with throwing away my life. One day, if an opportunity presents itself, I will man up and do it.”

This no-holds-barred attitude is typical of Strickland. But not everyone from his side is on the same page. His coach, Eric Nicksick, had a different and more candid take on the incident.

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Sean Strickland’s coach weighs in on the UFC 296 scuffle

According to Eric Nicksick, coach of Strickland, there was an emotional outburst from his fighter during UFC 296. While he understands it, he made it a point for his fighters to not fight emotionally as it may put them in a disadvantageous position. He urged Strickland to not have a ‘killer mindset,’ and to fight with the correct game plan. Reflecting along these lines, he stated, “I wanted him to understand that we need to have the right motivation; didn’t need to be this infuriated guy going in there ‘I’m gonna kill this guy.’”

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