Dricus Du Plessis claims Sean Strickland admitted to defeat at UFC 297

Dricus Du Plessis claims that Sean Strickland admitted to him that the South African was the better man on the night at UFC 297. Du Plessis unseated Strickland as middleweight champion in the main event last week via split decision. The bout was close, but in the end, a new champion was crowned in Toronto.

While Strickland gave Du Plessis props for his performance in the post-fight press conference, he also mentioned that an illegal headbutt cut him during the fight, impairing his ability to see. Speaking on SuperSport Unplugged recently, Du Plessis explained that, despite the decision being debated amongst the MMA community, Strickland himself admitted he knew he had been defeated before the scorecards were even read.

Related: Sean Strickland photo of eye injury: ‘They had to stitch through muscle to get it closed’

“He came to me in the cage,” Du Plessis said. “And I think this is the first time I’ve said this – he came to me in the cage immediately after the fight, before they announced me as the new champion. And I went to him and I shook his hand and I said, ‘You’re a warrior, well done. It was a great fight.’ And he said ‘No, you definitely beat me.’ He said to me ‘You deserve it, you won that fight.’”

Dricus Du Plessis tells @SuperSportTV that Sean Strickland admitted he lost the fight after UFC 297👀#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/GOJruXZxKv

— FightCrack (@FightCrack) January 27, 2024

With his victory, Du Plessis remains undefeated in the UFC and extends his current win streak to nine-straight. After having had very public issues with the likes of former champion Israel Adesanya in the past, it will be interesting to see who the UFC decides to feed the new champion for his first title defense.