“I honestly don’t think Sean Strickland ever thought he would be champion”

Dricus du Plessis challenges Sean Strickland for the middleweight title this Saturday at UFC 297.

In the midst of an eight-fight winning streak where he has finished all but one of those opponents, du Plessis is ready to climb to new heights.

“I’m ready to be world champion,” said du Plessis. “I’ve been champion in multiple promotions. When I signed with UFC, I came here to be world champion. I want that responsibility.”

Courtesy Zuffa LLC

Up until now, the most prestigious title du Plessis held was the KSW welterweight championship. That will change on Saturday if he can defeat Strickland, who has found a way over his past three bouts to overcome every obstacle thrown his way. That includes dethroning Israel Adesanya, and because of that, this will be the first bout for the undisputed middleweight title since 2017 that does not feature Adesanya.

Yet du Plessis remains uncertain that Strickland is ready for this moment, openly questioning whether the champ will be overwhelmed on the biggest stage of his career.

“I honestly don’t think Sean Strickland ever thought he would be champion,” said du Plessis. “There is a massive difference between being champion and fighting guys who are sixth or seventh in the division, which is what he is used to doing. That’s a jump. In order to do it, you need to have a championship mindset. We’ll see if he has it.”

Strickland (28-5) fought a masterpiece this past fall against Adesanya. But du Plessis (20-2) is also only one fight removed from his magnum opus, which came in the form of a round-two TKO of Robert Whittaker. After more than a half-decade where Adesanya and Whittaker were the division’s most elite fighters, a new era could begin at 297.

“Strickland had a great performance in his title shot, but that performance still wouldn’t have been enough against me,” said du Plessis. “You can’t live off that one performance. I had a great performance against Whittaker, and now I’m going to be even better against Strickland.”

Courtesy Zuffa LLC

If this fight goes as planned, du Plessis will be showing off his newly acquired title belt this summer at International Fight Week in Vegas. That is when Conor McGregor claims he is returning to fight Michael Chandler at middleweight. If McGregor wins that fight, could he jump the line and call out du Plessis for a title shot?

“I would love the opportunity to fight Conor McGregor,” said du Plessis. “I have been a massive fan of Conor since he came on the scene. When I was still a fan fighting in the local promotions, I was such a fan–and I still am.

“His career has been nothing short of spectacular. Conor changed this sport forever. To be able to share the cage with him would be an absolute honor. Fighting Conor McGregor would be one of the highlights of my career.”

Headlining a UFC pay-per-view has been a goal of du Plessis’ since signing with the organization in 2020. Now he has the chance to win gold while accomplishing that feat, and he plans to do so in stunning fashion.