UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis calls Sean Strickland’s request ridiculous, but will “most likely” keep it standing anyways

The name of the sport mixed martial arts is as literal and obvious as it gets; all martial disciplines are valid and fighters must plan accordingly.

That is the point Dricus du Plessis is making to Sean Strickland after the former middleweight champion demanded that the current champ “be a f—– man,” “stand up,” and “strike like men” in their upcoming rematch at UFC 312.

🚨 Sean Strickland wants to make a stand and bang pact with DDP. No takedowns. No grappling. Just striking.

Collection goes live tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/n6yvhNq8tW

— Full Violence ™ (@Full_Violence) January 22, 2025

At first, the first-ever South African UFC champion simply responded with a stone-cold one-liner on Twitter.

There are no pacts between Lions and men https://t.co/oLxMPwgqIq

— Dricus Du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) January 22, 2025

Now, however, in an interview with Fox Sports Australia – the country where UFC 312 takes place – ‘Stillknocks’ elaborated on his reply.

Look, it’s a ridiculous thing to ask. If you want to make pacts about us just standing up, go do boxing. I don’t go into fights thinking I have to stand up or take the guy down. I do what the situation tells me to do. That’s what MMA fighters do. I’m comfortable everywhere.

Despite refusing his rival, Dricus is comfortable if the bout is kept standing–expects it, in fact.

I think we are most likely going to keep it standing. I know I have the cardio; I know I can push him back and I know I have the power to knock him out. So for me that’s great. Then if the opportunity comes to get a takedown, it’s a decision you have to make immediately. If you see the moment, you take it.”

That would be in keeping with how the first fight played out. Dricus did take Strickland down six times, but the vast majority of the fight still played out on the feet.

Du Plessis’ takedowns and power edged out a contentious decision when they fought in January 2024 at UFC 297, a decision which Sean insists was rigged against him, citing his significant strike advantage (173 to 137). Yet the fact is that the large gap in strikes landed came in the first and fifth round, while the margins were thin in the second through fourth rounds.

The middleweight king also poked holes in Strickland’s bravado, comparing his comments last time to the then-champion’s risk-averse style in the octagon.

He said, ‘To the death,’ and I was ready for that. You saw it, too. I went forward for 23 minutes of a 25-minute fight. But from him? It was jabs and teeps. Against Paulo Costa next fight, same thing. So, ‘to the death?’ Sean Strickland knows a lot of one-liners to sound tough but I expose fake tough guys. And as for him now again saying let’s make this pact? What’s the purpose of a pact after we saw what happened the last time? Plus, I’m not here to make pacts; I’m here to win.

Time will tell who is right; the matter will be decided wordlessly when the two men meet in the cage on February 8th in Sydney, Australia.