Trash talk turns ‘life threatening’
Pre-fight trash talk is part and parcel of boxing and UFC.
Do it well, and it generates hype and sells tickets and pay per views for the event. Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen are two of the best in MMA. Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali were standardbearers in boxing.
Get it wrong though, and the results can range from cringe-worthy to simply gross.
Sean Strickland is no stranger to veering into the latter. The American went viral in June last year for a misogynistic press conference in Las Vegas, and pushed the boundaries again in the leadup to his shock title fight win over Israel Adesanya in Sydney in September.
This week though, his UFC 297 opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, has questioned Strickland’s headspace and called for someone in his team to “step in” after Strickland threatened to stab him.
Speaking on his podcast, Strickland made the shock promise to take drastic action if du Plessis mentions his abusive father during the build-up in Toronto this week.
An argument has since erupted about whether either, or both, of this weekend’s headliners have overstepped the boundaries of what’s permissible when it comes to
trash-talking. Du Plessis isn’t naive to how trash talk works, but doesn’t think Strickland’s threats are baseless either.
“I don’t think it’s an empty threat, to be honest,” du Plessis said. “Sean Strickland’s the type of guy that will do it.
“But, you’ve gotta ask yourself where you’re at mentally. That’s some serious stuff to be dealing with – it’s life threatening.
“I don’t care, but I don’t even know, from a legal standpoint, whether you’re even allowed to do that.
“If you have real friends, and real people around you, they have to check that out. It’s time to step in, guys.”
Du Plessis didn’t expect Strickland to react so angrily to his comments, and says his fury could be telling come fight night.
“I can’t just let him get his way – I’m not going to be bullied,” he said.