‘Cool Cucumber’ Dricus Du Plessis reacts to UFC 296 brawl with Sean Strickland: ‘So easy to mentally trigger him’

Dricus Du Plessis claims he pushed his perfect record to 6-0 in Las Vegas, Nevada, last night (Sat., Dec. 16, 2023) after a light bareknuckle spar in the stands.

Indeed, during UFC 296’s pay-per-view (PPV) main card, which took place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Du Plessis got into a wild brawl in the “Sin City” crowd with Middleweight champion, Sean Strickland (watch it here).

The two 185-pound standouts — who are scheduled to fight at UFC 297 — continued their unprofessionalism on social media (check it out here). Meanwhile, after the event concluded, Du Plessis caught up with ESPN reporter, Megan Olivi, to discuss the unsanctioned fisticuffs.

"I mean, I'm 5-0 in the T Mobile Arena, and tonight it officially became 6-0, so haha, I'm happy with that,” Du Plessis said. “You know, getting my money's worth. But, it's probably not a good example. But, you know, here we are, things happen. And yeah, nobody got hurt, all is good.”

During Friday's "2024 Seasonal Press Conference" in Vegas (watch HERE), Du Plessis mentioned Strickland's father being abusive toward him, which unhinged the Middleweight champion and started the intense heat.

"Stillknocks" doesn't care about Strickland's feelings.

"I don't really care how he feels,” Du Plessis said. “I don't care about him being triggered. He says whatever he wants, and I can say wherever I want. And now there's one thing that that's a soft spot, a trigger for him. And now we're not allowed to say anything? Man, if you want to dish it out, you have to be able to take it, but yeah, the fact that he's triggered, I don't give a damn about that."

As for the upcoming clash between the Middleweights, Du Plessis advised Strickland to calm down and get composed.

"Yeah, no, not to me [there's no emotion heading into the fight],” Du Plessis said. “Not at all. You know, right now, he needs to get calm, and he needs to gain his composure. I know I'm not the champ yet, so I shouldn't be really giving the champ advice, but that would be my advice.

“Gather your composure, be calm,” he concluded. “You make mistakes when you're not calm. And I'm calm as a cucumber — the coolest cucumber. I'm feeling absolutely great. And then the fact that he's triggered only plays to my advantage. I can't believe how easy it was to mentally trigger him. I thought, yes, Sean Strickland, you know, he's just bashing everybody, ranting about everything on everybody. And I mean, one little sentence and the man loses his mind. It shows how easily mentally he will be broken."

Du Plessis and Strickland are set to clash in little more than one month in Toronto, Canada, and the build-up will be insane.

Buckle up, Maniacs.

For complete UFC 296 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.