SEAN Strickland had a fan rush the stage to shake his hand during a chaotic UFC 297 press conference in Toronto, Canada that was best summed up by English featherweight Arnold Allen stating: “What the f… is going on in here?”
Yes, what the f… indeed?
While fireworks were always predicted for the fight week showdown between UFC champ Strickland and South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis – especially given they were crowd brawling at UFC 296 only last month — the pair were instead as cordial as two men can be when agreeing via handshake to fight to death.
UFC 297: STRICKLAND VS DU PLESSIS | SUN 21st JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the new exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View events!
Elsewhere during an event all about Strickland – who came out wearing a shirt emblazoned with a Maple Leaf, his surname and the phrase ‘Make Canada Great Again’ – the roster’s most controversial champ slammed former division king Israel Adesanya, started a ‘F… Colby’ (Covington) chant, and even had a fan rush him on stage for a handshake.
Incredibly, and when the boos were raining down on du Plessis when asked a question, he even interjected with “hey calm down, this guy is a f…ing warrior … applaud him and encourage him because we want a f…ing war”.
So guess what?
They did.
Asked later if the beef between the pair, which has simmered ever since DDP took aim at his abuse childhood, Strickland said it wasn’t and added he was “proud” of the way his rival had gone at him.
“Here’s the thing, it was never f…ing personal,” the champ insisted.
“I go hard on everybody.
“So you don’t think I deserve a little s…, bro?
“I go hard on all you motherf…ers.
“I’m proud of the motherf…er.
“You don’t see me lose character often but this motherf…er got me …”
Loose Strickland promises “to the death” | 01:13
At which point, and despite a huge security presence, a fan somehow rushed the stage aaaand …. well, wanted nothing but to shake Strickland’s hand.
“My man,” Strickland shouted, shaking the intruder’s hand, before raising and pumping his fist into the air shouting “let’s f…ing go, man, let’s f…ing go”.
Then, aware he now had the Canadian crowd whipped into a frenzy, went again.
“Hey you guys, real talk,” he said motioning across to du Plessis.
“This guy is a f…ing savage.
“And me and Dricus are going to try and kill each other for you guys.
“Dricus, can I get an agreement? To the f…ing death … to the f…ing death …”
At which point, the two fighters rose out of their chairs, leaned in front of UFC boss Dana White at the centre and shook hands.
“F…ing respect him for that,” Strickland shouted.
And on it went …
Asked about wrestling his way to victory this Sunday, the champ continued: “Listen you guys, 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 wrestle.
“I ain’t f…ing Khabib (Nurmagomedov). We’re here to fight.”
Elsewhere, Strickland made a surprise shout out to Australian fight fans, branded Colby Covington a “f…ing fraud” and even cracked at Adesanya – who has picked DDP to win via submission.
“Izzy, the f…ing cringe lord,” he cackled.
“F… Izzy.
“I could’ve took Izzy down and beat his ass on the ground but I chase to stand and what did he do the whole time? He ran away like a bitch.
“Izzy shut your f…ing mouth.”
Du Plessis agreed adding: “Israel Adesanya irrelevant right now.
AJ gears up for Ngannou mega fight | 00:40
“That man went on holiday, let him stay there.”
Speaking earlier, DDP seemed happy to play bad guy to Strickland the people’s champ, starting: “Canada, your boos suck way worse than Las Vegas boos.
“You’ll have to be way louder than that.”
So the crowd complied.
“That’s it, let’s go,” the challenger continued.
“There were go.
“Now you can almost compete.
“But listen, anybody who knows fighting knows this will be one hell of a fight.
“Will this fight go the distance?
“Probably not.
“This is going to be one hell of a fight.”
Overall though, this event belonged to Strickland – and right from the opening question.
“Let me tell you guys something, and this is what the media doesn’t understand when it comes to me, you guys and the Australian fans,” he said.
“You guys don’t care about me fighting.
“Me and Dricus, we’re going to have a death match and someone is going to get their hand raise.
“But when have you ever seen a UFC champion – Georges St Pierre or anybody else – stick up for you f…ing guys?
“I am not chasing the Chinese f…ing cheque mark of Nike.
“I don’t give a f… about that.
“I care about you guys. I care about you guys being free, having freedom of speech, I give a f… about you guys.
“And I tell you what, you guys are f…ing awesome and I cannot wait to go to war for you f…ing guys. Let’s go.”
So as for this fight being like his upset championship win over Adesanya last start?
“The thing about Dricus guys, he isn’t f…ing Izzy,” he continued.
“He likes to fight.
“And he’s a hell of a fighter.
“So you know what that means, we’re going to be d… to d…, nipple to nipple in that f…ing ring fighting bro.
“And I hope after we’re done, win or lose, we’re bloodied and have put on a show for you guys.”
All of which by the finish had the crowd going nuts and UFC boss White calling over the noise for one final question, which is when a journalist asked Arnold Allen about where a win this Sunday puts him.
To which the Englishman looked around the crowd, smiled and said: “What the f… is going on in here?”