Dricus du Plessis responds to Dana White: What you said is nonsense

Dricus du Plessis responded to a statement from UFC CEO Dana White in which he revealed his belief that Shawn Strickland would win the UFC 297 middleweight title fight.

Sean Strickland lost by split decision in his fight against Dracus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297, but UFC CEO Dana White believes he deserves to win.

White also admitted that the five-round fight was very close and both fighters certainly had their moments. It doesn’t take anything away from du Plessis for his efforts, but if he scores the fight, Strickland will leave Toronto with the UFC middleweight title still around his waist.

“We were just watching how the media was marking him and in the middle,” White said during the post-fight press conference at UFC 297. It was 2-2 going into the final round and I thought Strickland had won the final round. The men who sat at the same table had the opposite vision. “It was a close fight.”

Strickland started the fight strong with a powerful jab that led to plenty of punishment, but du Plessis weathered the storm and then did his own damage during the bloody back-and-forth battle.

White’s words seemed more favorable to Strickland’s victory, and he confirmed that if the decision had been his, he would have counted the result in favor of the American fighter and kicked him out of Canada with the belt around his waist.

White praised Strickland’s performance, especially regarding his best weapon – his foot, which also played a big role in winning the title last September.

Dana White disapproves of the outcome of the Sean Strickland vs. Dracus Du Plessis fight

“I thought Strickland looked great in the first two rounds,” he added. “The success was very beautiful. You don’t see such strikes in mixed martial arts. The strike did what it was supposed to do. [Du Plessis’s] eyes were closed and swollen. He slowed down in the third and fourth periods, and Du Plessis continued to advance and then began mixing strikes and punches.

In the end, White felt that the fight had already ended in the final five minutes, and all three judges were already in agreement that Strickland would win this round.

The South African clearly disagreed with White’s assessment, after learning that the UFC CEO had given Strickland his vote.

“To clarify, are there people who think I lost the fight?,” Du Plessis said in a post-fight press conference.

He added: “Did Dana White say I lost the match? Well, that’s absurd.

Following his victory, Du Plessis wasted no time in calling out former champion Israel Adesanya when they were originally scheduled to meet last year.

He sent a sarcastic message to Adesanya and told him: “You tried to steal my shine… Now I have your shine, because you didn’t step into the cage tonight.”

“Israel Adesanya, get your ass back to the UFC so we can work things out between us,” he shouted moments after ending his fight with Strickland.