Watch Strickland’s Backstage Reaction After DDP Loss

Sean Strickland was devastated by his UFC 297 loss to Dricus Du Plessis.

Equally upset was “Tarzan’s” team, who can be seen reacting to the scorecards at UFC 297 last weekend in Toronto. Dricus Du Plessis was able to score a split decision victory and capture the middleweight crown, even though some people in the promotion (like UFC CEO Dana White) had it scored for Strickland.

“Once that eye opened up, man, I just couldn’t see s**t,” Strickland said backstage. “Welcome to fighting. I feel like Chris Curtis. I’m going to start f*****g calling myself Chris Curtis.”

Curtis, who defeated Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 297, trains with Strickland out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. “Action Man” is no stranger to split decision victories. Nor is he unfamiliar with head butts, thanks to this wacky ending back in early 2023.

Can’t blame that one on Jon Anik.

The promotion is expected to skip an immediate rematch and instead book Du Plessis against former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, though it’s not yet known when or where “Stillknocks” will make his first title defense (because of this).

Expect an announcement in the next couple of weeks.