Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis returns to action for his second title defense at UFC 312 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025) as he rematches Sean Strickland from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Their first fight was an ultra-close split decision, with many people believing Strickland did enough to retain the championship. Du Plessis ultimately won, but in this upcoming rematch, he’s got a slightly different, chilling mindset.
“I’m fighting a guy in front of millions of people who wants to kill me, and I want to kill him; that’s all the motivation I need,” Du Plessis told businessman Mark Bouris. “When I go in there, if the ref doesn’t stop it, I’m not stopping. I can be sitting on you for 10 minutes bashing your face, and if the ref doesn’t say stop, I’m not stopping.”
“That is the question that me, as a modern-day gladiator has to ask myself: Am I still willing to die? Absolutely. That’s easy,” Du Plessis added. “It is, are you willing to kill a man in front of his family? Yes, I am, and that’s why I’m the world champion. I say yes to that question every single time.”
This might be one of the coldest lines from an MMA fighter of all time
“Am I willing to die?… Absolutely that’s easy. It’s are you willing to kill a man in front of his family. Yes I am… and that’s why I’m world champ because I say yes every single time”
@markbouris pic.twitter.com/KIxvb8eLpj
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) February 3, 2025
During the buildup to the fight, Strickland offered a ‘stand-and-bang pact‘ to “Stillknocks,” to which the champion declined. However, in the same interview, he said that he already stood and banged with Strickland in their first outing.
“That was exactly what we did the last time,” Du Plessis said. “He said, ‘To death, let’s go, ‘let’s fight to death,’ and the man threw a jab and a teep for five rounds. And this is a stat, you can check it, for 23 minutes I went forward, he went forward for two minutes. That is a very clear indication of who is there to fight and who is there to defend.”
“Let’s not go and act as if Sean Strickland’s fights are entertaining. The man has eight split decisions,” Du Plessis concluded. “That is not somebody who is looking for an exciting fight.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 312 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/Disney+/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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This news first appeared on MMA Mania. Read the original article.
