"That’s the same approach we need“ - Sean Strickland must draw inspiration from Leon Edwards ahead of Dricus du Plessis clash, says coach

Sean Strickland should look at Leon Edwards' performance against Colby Covington at UFC 296 ahead of the champion's title defense versus Dricus du Plessis next weekend, according to his coach.

The pair will headline UFC 297 for the middleweight title, and emotions are running high ahead of fight night, particularly for 'Tarzan'.

They were involved in a heated verbal exchange at the UFC 2024 Season press conference, held in December. Du Plessis enraged Strickland after bringing up the childhood abuse the American suffered from his father.

The following day, they were involved in a cage-side brawl at UFC 296, as the pair were seated just one row apart in the crowd.

Strickland's coach, Eric Nicksick, shared his thoughts on the upcoming middleweight title clash during a recent appearance on the Weighing In podcast. He wants his student to take inspiration from Edwards' ability to remove his emotions from the fight with 'Chaos', after Covington's comments about his late-father.

Nicksick said:

"[Du Plessis] wants us to fight him to his style of fight, which is chaotic... When you watch Leon Edwards fight Colby Covington and take the emotion after what was said, and watch him dismantle that man for five rounds. I made that to a full point [with Sean Strickland]."

He continued:

"Look what happened with Leon when he hurt him to the heart. Hurt him. [Edwards] wanted to kill [Covington]. But he didn't fight him that way, he fought him smart and he fought him tactical. That's the same approach we need to have on January 20th."

Watch the video below from 25:45:

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Dricus du Plessis' camp is confident he walks through Sean Strickland, says Daniel Cormier

Dricus du Plessis will take on Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 297 next weekend, and the South African's camp believe he will dominate the champion when they meet, according to Daniel Cormier.

During a recent video posted to his YouTube channel, 'DC' shed light on a conversation he had with people close to 'Stillknocks' at UFC 296 in December.

He said:

"I talked to people close to du Plessis, they believe it is an afterthought that he gets through Sean Strickland. They believe that he is so far ahead of Sean Strickland, that it will not be competitive. I don't know how you can watch that last fight [against Adesanya] and feel like that."

Watch the video below from 6:03:

The betting odds for the middleweight title clash have Strickland as the favorite right now, marked at -125, whilst Du Plessis is a +114 underdog