Sean Strickland targeted by fan bum-rushing the stage

The UFC 297 press conference got underway earlier today. While it wasn’t one of the most eventful showings, we witnessed one fan rush onto the stage and head straight toward Sean Strickland.

Strickland was doing his best to rile up the crowd ahead of his first title defense on Saturday and it seemingly worked a little too well. As he often is, the middleweight champion was the center of attention with many enjoying watching him spend time in the spotlight.

Before being confronted by a fan, Sean Strickland spoke about his relationship with forthcoming opponent Dricus Du Plessis. Despite tempers flaring between the two in the past, there are no personal issues between the two, according to the man himself.

“Here’s the thing, it was never f***ing personal,” Strickland said regarding his opinion of Du Plessis. “You had the cuck Sean O’Malley say some stupid sh*t he knows nothing about.”

“I go hard on everybody, you guys. You don’t think I deserve sh*t, bro? I go hard on all you motherf***ers. I’m proud of the motherf***er. You don’t see me lose character often, this little f***er got me there.”

Just moments after his speech, a fan bombarded the stage to embrace Sean Strickland. The two shook hands, which ultimately psyched up the entire arena.

WE GOT FANS RUSHING THE STAGE TO SHAKE STRICKLAND’S HAND IN CANADA #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/W5wkxsbPtq

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) January 18, 2024

Shortly after the confrontation, Strickland got back onto the mic and made a proposition to Dricus Du Plessis.

“Me and Dricus, we’re going to try and f***ing kill each other for you guys. Dricus, can I get an agreement? To the f***ing death. To the f***ing death. God damn respect him for that.”

Confirming his stance heading into the fight, Strickland once again dismissed any wrestling exchanges and insisted that the two would stand and bang until somebody got knocked out.

“I wrestle every day, sadly. But let’s treat this like f***ing men. Stand in the middle and put one of us to f***ing sleep, we don’t need to f***ing wrestle. I ain’t f***ing Khabib, we’re here to f***ing fight.”

Related: Israel Adesanya gives his pick for Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis

As the press conference almost reached its end, Sean Strickland shared some bold comments for the former champion Israel Adesanya.

“Izzy, the f***ing guy. The f***ing cringe lord,” Strickland said in response to a question on Adesanya. “F*** Izzy. I could have took Izzy down and beat his a** on the ground but I chose to stand with him like a man.”

“What did he do the whole fight? Run away like a b*tch. Izzy, shut your f***ing mouth.”

Watch Sean Strickland steal the show during the UFC 297 press conference below.