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LOCKED IN! – Strickland promises war | 01:02
Sean Strickland, every morning this week, has put on his boots and gone to work.
UFC 312: Du Plessis v Strickland 2 | SUN 9 FEB | UFC middleweight king Dricus du Plessis is headed back Down Under for yet another title defence, with the South African set to face Sean Strickland in a blockbuster UFC 312 headliner in Sydney. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.
Again today, nothing changes.
Having already whipped Sydney into the type of sporting frenzy usually reserved for, say, State of Origin openers, Strickland is now readying, once more, to go and make you feel.
Better, it comes atop UFC 312 against Dricus du Plessis.
That hulking UFC middleweight king enjoying such a tear right now, you have to go back seven years to find a fella who beat him – and even then, said rival will still remember his South African rival hitting “hard as f***”.
Which undeniably, he plans to do again today.
A truth proved by the champ revealing this week how he is willing to kill a man in front of his family.
None of which bothers Strickland much.
Sure, it has now been almost a year to the day since the polarising Las Vegas native dropped UFC gold against du Plessis in that contentious, split decision loss where the difference was either a headbutt or continuous right hands.
Like all things Strickland, it depends with whom you speak.
Regardless, the loss remains one Strickland now plans to flip.
FOLLOW UFC 312 LIVE: The latest updates and highlights from the Sydney card
And on a big Sydney showcase where fellow American Tatiana Suarez – who trains out of the same Sin City gym – is also looking to add new chapters to her own incredible story all hype, heartbreak and hours of unseen work.
Having already battled, and beaten, cancer, before then enduring an injury run that kept her out of the cage four years, Suarez is now eyeing off a run to be crowned Greatest Women’s Fighter of All Time.
But standing in her way, Chinese strawweight queen Weili Zhang.
All of this too, before we get to those eight Aussies throwing down inside Qudos Bank Arena.
Fellas like resurrected light heavyweight Jimmy Crute, who is back after finding not only God, but faith in himself, and debuting Sydneysider Colby Thicknesse – whose corner will include no less than Alexander Volkanovski.
Wonderfully, Thicknesse is set to square off against Aleks Topuria, whose own corner will boast that older brother and new UFC featherweight king, Ilia Topuria — who famously kayoed Volk to win himself UFC gold.
But as for those two throwing down again in April?
Nobody will say.
With Dana White instead giving up this week only how the NRL can win over Donald Trump.
But Strickland?
Well, the big fella has either been revving or reviling everyone else.
A truth proved by the fact that, after starting Thursday morning on The Daily Telegraph’s backpage – alongside a headline pleading for someone to knock him out –he finished up being cheered so loudly cheered at that evening’s UFC press conference, nobody could be heard.
After weighing in Friday too, the polarising Las Vegas native again whipped up the Sydney crowd shouting: “I can’t wait to go out there and try to shorten this man’s life for you f***ers.
“To the death, Dutch man.”
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DDP, meanwhile, was himself greeted by a chorus boos, which seemed more than a little unfair for a fella who has promised to celebrate victory Sunday by chasing that beer skolling record of Australia’s late, great Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
But just like the backpage, those boos are a nod to Strickland – and his incredible ability to make people feel.
Which, undeniably, are as valuable to a fighter as his fists.
Just ask Michael Bisping, that visiting UFC great whose own fighting prime earned him something of a black belt in verbal tongue fu.
Asked what exactly he thought Strickland was trying to achieve with his going after so many things Australian this week – and still having people on his side – Bisping admitted to more than a little confusion.
“It’s a good question,” he told Fox Sports Australia. “And something I’ve been asking others: ‘What do you think Sean is doing?’
“Because I don’t think the guy believes everything he says.
“Sean’s putting on a show.
“Put a microphone in front of him and he turns into, I won’t say a completely different person because I’ve known Sean a while, sparred him for years, and he was always that guy in the training room who had wild opinions or something dumb to say.
“But give him an audience, it gets exaggerated.
“He enjoys that.
“But Sean, he isn’t a moron.
“I know he acts the fool at times, but the guy isn’t an idiot …”
So as for what may be fuelling this week’s performance?
“I honestly think he’s just him getting through the day,” Bisping continued.
“He comes out with some crazy stuff, some things I don’t want to go into.
“But I think he’s just getting through his day for the most part.
“He’s not in a typical job.
“He’s a fighter, can say whatever he likes so he’s embracing that, taking it the next level and polarising people.
“It’s why Sunday there will be a lot of people tuning in to see Sean Strickland get knocked out.
“I saw that headline earlier this week in The Daily Telegraph, and lot of people agree with it.
“But a lot of people want Sean Strickland to win too.”
Take Suarez, who competes one fight earlier.
“Sean and I have known each for about 12 years,” she told us this week.
“We go way back, went to the same gyms, so I know Sean, understand him.
“And it’s so comforting to have someone so familiar around me this week.
“We’ll also go win titles on the same day.”
So as for something that may surprise Strickland critics?
“He’s a softie,” she grins.
“Super softie,” the UFC title challenger continues.
“He has love for people.”
Du Plessis, however, may disagree.
Famed for breaking Aussie fight fans’ hearts 18 months ago – when he upset Robert Whittaker in Las Vegas at UFC 290 – du Plessis is now readying for his second straight title fight on Australian soil.
Better, the headliner comes against Strickland – that polarising Las Vegas native from whom he not only took the crown via contentious split decision in January, but whose own biggest win also came right here in the Harbour City.
Back in 2023, the fighter dubbed ‘Tarzan’ earned one of the sport’s great title upsets when he beat Israel Adesanya by decision at UFC 293 in Sydney – a result that undeniably adds to his appeal among local fight fans.
Yet while Strickland would then drop the strap only months later, DDP is now on a tear stretching seven years.
Speaking with MMA Fighting this week, the last person to defeat the new champ in a fight had nothing but praise for his latest reign – and tipped him to again get the job done Sunday.
Roberto Soldic, who currently fights with ONE Championship, faced du Plessis in consecutive fights during 2018 – in which he was stopped first time out before winning their rematch by KO.
Asked about his old rival, Soldic said: “He’s crazy, crazy powerful.
“Conditioned. Uncomfortable … unpredictable. You don’t know what’s coming.”
Soldic added fighters like Israel Adesanya had underestimated DDP.
“He doesn’t look good but he’s deceptive,” he said. “He moves crazy and then he just throws something crazy. But it’s effective.
“The first fight I underestimated him.
“He got me in the press conference … got me emotional. I wanted to badly finish him. I didn’t control myself.
“The second fight, I was more calm, more sharp.
“That’s why people make a big mistake. They underestimate him and he steps in the cage and he’s ready to fight. He tries to get inside your head. He’s always smiling in the rounds.”
Soldic also praised the champ’s power adding: “Everything he throws is hard as f*ck.
“It’s crazy.
“You think you got him, he wobbles a little bit and then he just explodes and catches you like (he did) Robert with the jab. Strickland is also good but I think Dricus is going to defend his title again.”
