UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland has worked hard to pull up a solid physique weeks before his UFC 297 title defense. Strickland is set to defend his title for the first time against Dricus Du Plessis after defeating Israel Adesanya to become the champion. Du Plessis is a strong contender and fans believed Strickland would need more muscle to go head-to-head with the South African. Strickland delivered and his fans are pumped.
‘Full Violence’ posted a picture of Strickland’s physique on Instagram. They captioned the post, “Lowkey the best shape he’s ever been in.” Fans were worried for Du Plessis after witnessing Strickland’s transformation.
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One fan wrote, “Dricus may be toast fellas.”
Another fan claimed, “Bro when did he get so ripped he is going to slap Dricus’s head off”
Meanwhile, one fan claimed it was the “Champ effect”
The American fighter does not usually boast six-pack abs. However, he has had a muscular physique before. In recent times, Strickland is known more for his brash personality. His personality is also one of the reasons why he got into a brawl with Du Plessis while they were sitting in the stands at UFC 296.
Dricus Du Plessis claims he has immense respect for “real man” Sean Strickland after their brawl at UFC 296
The champion, Strickland, and challenger, Du Plessis, met at the 2024 Season Press Conference and things got heated. Usually, Strickland instigates his opponents through a personal attack. That is exactly what he did when he called out UFC Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. ‘Suga’ did not hold back and attacked Strickland by talking about his abusive childhood.
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When Strickland played the personal attack card against Du Plessis, the South African did the same as O’Malley. He said, “You think your dad beat the sh*t out of you? Your dad doesn’t have sh*t on me.. Every childhood memory you have is gonna come back when I’m in there with you.”
These attacks seemed to have bothered Strickland. The American got into a brutal physical altercation with Du Plessis after the pair exchanged words in the crowd at UFC 296. However, Du Plessis has claimed he has immense respect for Strickland.
He said, “There’s no hard feelings,” Du Plessis said during The Coach and the Casual podcast. “I still have the world’s respect for Sean Strickland. He’s a real man. I said it, and he showed that [at UFC 296]. I mean, he stood up for himself and he did what he – that’s what a real man does.
“He stood up for himself. Listen, did he behave like a champion? Probably not. But at the end of the day, champion or not, we are fighters.”
The fighter will lock horns in the first PPV of 2024 as they face off for the middleweight title in the UFC 297 main event on January 20, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.