MMA Knockout

Dana White Blames Himself For Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis Scuffle: “I Do The Seating Assignments”

The UFC CEO spoke on the now-viral brawl between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

Zain Bando

Dana White Blames Himself For Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis Scuffle: “I Do The Seating Assignments”
Dana White Blames Himself For Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis Scuffle: “I Do The Seating Assignments” /

UFC CEO Dana White was the first one to admit he messed up while speaking to the media at UFC 296 Saturday night.

In a video that has been seen millions of times in under 24 hours, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis exchanged gestures to get under one another’s skin, eventually turning into an all-out brawl.

“So, what kind of asshole sits Strickland next to Du Plessis?” White asked. “This asshole. That’s who.”

Although the room at T-Mobile Arena took a light-hearted approach and laughed it off, White, who has led the UFC since 2001, said there was nothing funny about the ordeal.

“I do every seating assignment every week,” White said. “Yep. How f*****g stupid is that? I mean, seriously. I don’t know what humans you could sit Strickland next to [and not expect a fight]. Definitely not Du Plessis.”

White regrets the error entirely, clarifying that the fight is still on for the main event of UFC 297 to kickstart the promotion’s pay-per-view schedule.

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“I don’t even know how I missed that [brawl],” White said. “Listen, this is the business we’re in. I say it all the time. Jumped in there, told Strickland to relax, go in the back [of the arena]. He decided to leave, so he left the arena. Du Plessis is good.”

The pair will compete in the main event for the middleweight title in Strickland’s first defense, as he upset Israel Adesanya in Sydney, Australia to win the belt in September.

As for Du Plessis, he earned a title shot by defeating Robert Whittaker in July, as Whittaker had held the middleweight title just four years ago before losing to Adesanya.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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