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Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland did not have a scheduled fight at UFC 296, but their cage-side brawl was arguably the most talked-about moment following last weekend's pay-per-view.
The pair of middleweights are set to clash for the title at UFC 297 in January, and attended a 2024 Season press conference last week Friday to help build the fight. It was a week of family-themed trash-talk, and Strickland became unexpectedly angry when 'Stillknocks' brought up the abuse 'Tarzan' suffered growing up.
The following day, at UFC 296, the pair were sat two rows away from one another in the crowd, and very little spark was needed for things to kick off in the crowd.
Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, as well as his Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Craig Jones, were sitting next to Sean Strickland when he jumped on Dricus du Plessis.
Jones has now shed some close-up details about the brawl, saying this:
"They're obviously holding Strickland's arm, so Dricus ends up on top. I swear to God this motherf***er went for a Mike Tyson ear bite! He just tries to bite his ear as they get separated. In the moment I was like, 'Am I imagining this?' And then I've tried to find footage since, and I can't see it clearly. But from the angle I was sitting at, I was like., 'I swear this motherf***er just tried to bite him.'"
Watch the video below from 8:20:
Dana White blames himself for the Dricus du Plessis-Sean Strickland brawl at UFC 296
Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland erupted into a brawl cage-side at UFC 296 last weekend.
Considering their heated press conference, many wondered about the idea to sit the middleweights two rows of chairs apart.
The pair were essentially touching distance in the crowd prior to the brawl. Following the conclusion of UFC 296, the promotion's CEO Dana White appeared in front of the media, where he admitted to being the person in charge of seating arrangements.
"So what kind of an a**hole sits Strickland next to Du Plessis?" White said. "This a**hole, that's who. I do every seating assignment every week. How f***ing stupid is that? I mean seriously. Well, I don't know what humans you can sit Strickland next to, but definitely not Dricus du Plessis. I don't even know how I missed that."
Watch the video below:
