December 17, (THEWILL) – Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis got into an altercation whilst attending Saturday’s UFC 296 event in Las Vegas. Middleweight champion Strickland and Du Plessis exchanged punches while in the audience of the weekend event. The scuffle broke out unexpectedly as the rivals awaited their own title fight at UFC 297 next month.
Footage shows the pair throwing strikes at one another amidst the crowd before being forcefully separated. Their January matchup was already expected to be heated – the two were pulled apart from an on-stage faceoff just one day prior. However, tensions erupted once more upon this second encounter inside the arena.
Both men took to social media afterwards. Du Plessis taunted Strickland’s punching power and promised further violence when they finally meet with no security to intervene. The champion is so far yet to directly address the incident. UFC President Dana White will likely look to discipline the disorderly behaviour.
Strickland captured his belt in a massive upset this September, out-pointing previous undefeated champ Israel Adesanya. Du Plessis earned his shot after a second round TKO of Robert Whittaker in July. There is clearly genuine animosity fuelling anticipation for their bout. Yet, further unrest could place it in jeopardy altogether.
Officials have not indicated if either fighter sustained injuries from the altercation that might impact their participation next month. Still, the scene casts further doubt on whether Strickland and Du Plessis can contain hostilities until fight night. Their headline clash at UFC 297 was already engulfed in bad blood – now even more so after this latest flare up.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
