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Two champions were scheduled to compete at UFC 296, but a third couldn’t resist getting his hands on his upcoming opponent earlier than expected.
Middleweight titleholder Sean Strickland brawled with his upcoming UFC 297 challenger Dricus Du Plessis, who was sat two rows behind him cageside during the pay-per-view broadcast. Tensions began boiling at the UFC’s seasonal press conference a day prior, when harsh insults and personal attacks were traded.
UFC CEO Dana White took responsibility after the fact for sitting the two men so closely to each other.
The brawl didn’t last long, and luckily no one was hurt. Strickland even politely asked Gilbert Burns’ family to move out of the way before launching himself in the air onto Du Plessis. After being separated, Strickland left the arena and Du Plessis hung around and gave an interview after the event.
Should the UFC do something about this brawl? Surely it’s not a good thing to have fighters letting their fists fly in the crowd during events, much less anywhere outside of sanctioned competition. In particular, these two are set to face each other in the very next pay-per-view main event.
Is this whole situation a black eye for the UFC and the sport as a whole?
That’s what our “Spinning Back Clique” of Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and Brian “Goze” Garcia discussed along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss the most recent full episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel at noon ET. You can also find each episode on your favorite podcast platforms – including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more – on Tuesday mornings.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
