Dricus Du Plessis settled his rivalry with Sean Strickland on Saturday night at UFC 312, scoring a comprehensive unanimous decision win.
The pair first clashed at UFC 297 last January in what has been remembered as a completely unexciting fight, despite their pre-fight antics.
Although their first meeting was relatively unforgettable, Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland promised a more exciting affair this time around and continued their war of words in the pre-fight press conference.
Du Plessis went on to retain his title in extremely dominant fashion, cementing himself as the middleweight champion and putting a stamp on their rivalry.
READ MORE: Khamzat Chimaev shares X-rated reaction to Dricus du Plessis beating Sean Strickland at UFC 312
Dricus Du Plessis reveals what he told Sean Strickland backstage after main event
In the fourth round of their scrap, ‘Stillknocks’ landed a huge right hand directly on the nose of Strickland which resulted in a break and a lot of leaked blood.
Although the pair shared a lot of hatred for each other in the lead-up to both fights, they embraced following the final horn and even crossed paths backstage.
Usually, that would be a cause for concern for the promotion, however, they remained respectful after sharing 10 rounds in the Octagon together and the South African has revealed what he told the 33-year-old.
“I told him that he was ugly before obviously when we fought because he’s not a pretty person but when I saw him after that when I hit him in the nose I said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you got uglier’ and he did, I was like, ‘Your nose is so screwed up now’,” Du Plessis said in the post-fight presser.
“He tried to break his nose back in the middle of the fight and for some weird reason, I was giving him the opportunity I was like, okay, let him get his nose (back in place) and then I was like, no, punch this guy in the face while he’s trying to do this,” he continued.
Dricus Du Plessis wants to fight Khamzat Chimaev in South Africa or Saudi Arabia
After successfully defending his title for a second time, ‘Stillknocks’ believes now is the time for the UFC to finally take an event to South Africa.
Seemingly, Khamzat Chimaev is next in line for the middleweight title after Dana White hinted at that fight following UFC 312.
‘Borz’ has continuously run into issues regarding fighting in the United States as he has struggled to attain a visa, however, Dana recently claimed that he won’t have any issues going forward, hinting that he will fight in the States.
Despite that, Du Plessis would like to take on the Chechen in either South Africa or in the Middle East.
“I don’t care about PPVs, I care about taking names. (I’d fight him) in a Fight Night in South Africa, for sure, no, I’m not taking any random Fight Nights, I’ll fight him in South Africa on a Fight Night for sure.
“I’ll take him on a PPV in Saudi, for sure, 100%. In fact, I would prefer that. To beat him and conquer another place, yeah, perfect,” he stated.