UFC 297: Sean Strickland Warns Dricus Du Plessis: 'I'm Okay Dying as Long as You Die With Me'

You don't get much more bad blood than this.

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland comes into UFC 297 with a heavy heart. His opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, weaponized Strickland's childhood trauma to rile the American fighter at the UFC Seasonal Presser on December 16, and Strickland is sure to warn the South African not to overstep the mark again.

UFC 297: Sean Strickland Threatens to 'Stab' Dricus Du Plessis in Post-Brawl Texts

The animosity boiled over at UFC 296 when the two middleweight fighters had a brawl in the stands. Strickland admitted he threatened to "stab" Du Plessis in messages sent after the fiasco.

"I actually sent him a f***ing message, and I was like ‘Dude, listen Dricus, we’re gonna go try and murder each other. But if you bring that stuff up again, I will f***ing stab you."

Starring in an interview with ESPN on January 16, Strickland explained that he thought the UFC set up the UFC 296 brawl with "Stillknocks".

"I really think the UFC set that one up, by the way," Strickland leered.

"Tarzan" warned his opponent that he'd be perfectly fine "throwing away" his life in retaliation to more trash talk:

"I genuinely like Dricus, but it's just like... here's the thing man, you know who I am, I will f****** kill you." Strickland exclaimed. ".... I'm the one guy who is okay with throwing away my life. And one day I hope that if the opportunity ever presents itself I f****** man up and I do it. And you know we're gonna have this interview and look back at it and like 'Oh yeah Sean wasn't f****** joking he really f****** threw away his life.' .... I'm okay dying as long as you die with me"

Strickland will have the opportunity to back up his words when he faces Du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297 on January 20.

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