After an intense and bitter build-up, we’re finally just a few hours away from Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland throwing down for a second time.
The middleweight championship rematch is the cherry on top of a rather bland UFC 312 cake, with both champion and challenger solely dominating the headlines throughout Fight Week.
As MMA fans enter their final countdown to the long-awaited rematch down under, which takes place later this evening, both athletes have sent each other one last final message.
Dricus Du Plessis ‘knows’ he can break Sean Strickland at UFC 312
The bookie’s favorite: Dricus Du Plessis did appear to look quite ‘drained’ as he spoke to the UFC News crew after the UFC 312 Ceremonial Weigh-Ins yesterday afternoon.
‘Stillknocks’ won the middleweight title via a razor-close decision over Sean Strickland this time last year, and the South African is keen to put a more definitive and devastating stamp on things in Sydney.
“The biggest thing to take away [from the first right] is that we’re two guys who are not willing to give up. I have to find more holes, poke at those holes, and I need to break him down to where he doesn’t want to be in there anymore… I know I can let him break in there.”
Du Plessis previously predicted that he’d TKO Strickland on the feet but now teased that he’s prepared to take the fight to the ground if necessary: “If we are in exchanges where wrestling is needed, I am more prepared to actually wrestle and grapple if needs be.”
So how does he get it done? By winning every minute, of every round.
“The easiest way to say it and it’s easier said than done, for you to win a fight, you need to win every round… For you to win every round, you need to win every minute… And for you to win every minute, can you do it in every exchange?
“That’s what I’m going out there to do, to win every single exchange, every round, and win this fight as decisively as possible.”
Sean Strickland vows to ‘pick him apart for 25 minutes’ in repeat rematch
Whilst Strickland still holds onto the theory that he was robbed of a title victory in their first fight, the former middleweight champion understands that there’s plenty of room for improvement ‘down under’.
“I just got to be better man; I’ve got to be faster. I thought I won that fight, you look at his face and my face the next day is like light and day man, light and day. It’s going to be a repeat of that, but my hand will be raised.
“He’s like a r—– on a short bus, he goes full send the whole time and God damn, I respect him for that but it ain’t going to work this time, I’m going to pick him apart for 25 minutes [and] he will be bleeding.”
Despite believing he’ll put on a five-round masterclass and in response to Du Plessis vowing to stop him inside the distance, Strickland argued that if there’s anyone who’s likely to be knocked out, it’s ‘Stillknocks’.
“Hell, you know what, I think I’m going to try to put him out like he’s going to try and put me out. I will tell you what, Dutchman, you will be going out – if someone goes out, it will be you.”
UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 goes down live in just a few hours time; stay up to date with all the latest news and results on Bloody Elbow.