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Dricus Du Plessis would be happy to step inside the Octagon with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira after taking care of a bit of business at middleweight.

Emanating from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Du Plessis will step into the main event spotlight at UFC 297 determined to cut short the reign of reigning middleweight king Sean Strickland. Hours ahead of their highly anticipated title tilt, Du Plessis and Strickland made an appearance at a pre-fight press event on Thursday. Also in attendance was 205-pound champ Alex Pereira.

With Pereira’s presence looming large at the media scrum, reporters were curious to know if either Strickland or Du Plessis would be interested in challenging ‘Poatan’ should they come out on top on January 20.

Strickland, who already carries a first-round knockout loss to Pereira on his resume, was unusually quiet, but ‘Stillknocks’ happily chimed in.

“100% [I would challenge Pereira],” Du Plessis declared. “100% – after this I have a whole division to take care of before I start thinking of that… Whether it’s him, whether it’s someone else I don’t care. After this division, that’s what I’m after.”

Strickland was quick to retort, “Alex, after I put him away you can put him away next. Don’t worry, we got you Dricus.”

As of this writing, Sean Strickland is listed as a slight favorite to retain his title at UFC 297, sitting at a -115 on DraftKings. Du Plessis is a -105 at the moment with the anticipated line movement expected to make the fight essentially a pick’em by the time they make their walks to the Octagon on Saturday night.

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Despite often rubbing some the wrong way with his bold and controversial statements, Sean Strickland is considered by many to be a ‘people’s champion’. During the UFC 297 press conference, his fan-favorite tendencies were on full display.

With an array of hungry contenders all looking to get their hands on the 32-year-old, he has done a good job of staying composed and focusing on the task at hand. He will face his first test as the 185 lbs king at UFC 297 against the heavy-hitting Dricus Du Plessis.

It didn’t take long for Sean Strickland to get those in attendance pumped up during the press conference earlier today. Discrediting Georges St-Pierre and other champions to make his point, Strickland declared himself a voice of the people.

“Let me tell you guys something. And this is what the media doesn’t understand when it comes to me and you guys and the Australian fans.”

“You guys don’t care about me fighting. Yeah, me and Dricus, we’re going to have a deathmatch. Someone’s going to get their hand raised. Someone’s going to get their hand raised.”

“But when have you ever seen a UFC champion, Georges St-Pierre, anybody else stick up for you f***ing guys?” Strickland said as he addressed the Canadian fans. “I f***ing do it. I do it.”

Related: Dricus Du Plessis asked about pressing charges against Sean Strickland after UFC 296 brawl

Sean Strickland continued his rant about being a man of the people, and despite already discrediting a beloved fighter of their nation, the fans loved every minute of his speech.

“I am not chasing the Chinese checkmark of Nike. I don’t give a f*** about that. I care about you guys. I care about you guys being free. I care about you guys having freedom of speech.”

“I give a f*** about you guys and I’ll tell you what, you guys are f***ing awesome and I cannot wait for me and this man to f***ing go to war for you f***ing guys.”

From that moment onward, the Canadian fans were all behind Sean Strickland, with one even storming the stage to confront the middleweight king.

Watch the UFC 297 press conference in the video below.

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Cédric Doumbé looks to build on his ultra-impressive PFL debut when he returns for the main event at an event scheduled in Paris on March 7.

The PFL Europe card takes place at Accor Arena in Paris with Doumbé set to face off with undefeated prospect Baissangour Chamsoudinov in the headliner. PFL officials announced the news on Thursday.

A decorated kickboxer with over 80 fights on his resume, Doumbé was a prize acquisition for PFL after he was originally slated to join the UFC roster back in 2022. Unfortunately, a medical issue prevented Doumbé from competing and he was ultimately released from his UFC contract.

The UFC’s loss became PFL’s gain with Doumbé signing with the upstart organization before making his debut this past September. On that night, Doumbé needed just nine seconds to obliterate his opponent with a knockout punch to secure his first win in the PFL.

Now six months later, Doumbé makes his second appearance with the next PFL Europe schedule kicking off.

Chamsoudinov holds a perfect 8-0 record training out of the MMA Factory in France under the tutelage of head coach Fernand Lopez. The 22-year-old Chechen born fighter spent his past four fights in Ares FC — a promotion owned and operated by Lopez — where he’s scored four wins with latest victory ending in a second-round knockout.

Doumbe vs. Chamsoudinov serves as the main event with more fights expected to be announced for the PFL Europe card in the coming weeks.

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A few weeks ago, Sean Strickland was diving over chairs to throw punches at Dricus du Plessis in the crowd at UFC 296.

Now, just days away from their main event clash at UFC 297, Strickland has buried whatever animosity he had toward du Plessis, going as far as telling the crowd in Toronto to cheer for his opponent on Saturday night. It was quite a change of pace after Strickland threatened to stab du Plessis if the South African fighter brought up his childhood trauma again — the exact subject that led to that brawl this past December.

Instead, it was former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya catching strays from a very animated Strickland.

“Here’s the thing about Dricus, he ain’t f****** Izzy — Dricus likes to fight,” Strickland shouted. “He likes to fight and he’s a hell of a fight. Do you know what that means? We’re going to be d*** to d***, nipple to nipple in that range f****** fighting.

“I hope after we’re done, win or lose, we’re f****** bloody and we put on a show for you f****** guys. Applaud him and encourage him. Because we want a f****** war!”

Despite the brawl and the pre-fight threats, Strickland insisted he never had any real ill will towards du Plessis. Strickland actually put the blame back on UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who initiated the uncomfortable trash talk at a separate press conference where they all shared the stage together.

Outside of that incident and later attacking du Plessis in the crowd, Strickland promises he had no problems whatsoever with his upcoming opponent. In fact, he actually commended du Plessis for managing to get him so bent out of shape and angry during that previous encounter.

“Here’s the thing, it was never f****** personal,” Strickland said. “You had the cuck Sean O’Malley say some stupid s*** he knows nothing about. I go hard on everybody. You don’t think I deserve some s***? I go hard on all you motherf******.

“I’m proud of the motherf******. You don’t see me lose character often, this motherf***** got me there.”

Rather than launch himself across the table, Strickland extended a hand to du Plessis so the fighters could agree that they would put on a memorable show for the Canadian crowd on Saturday.

“Real talk you guys, me and Dricus, we’re going to try to f****** kill each other for you guys,” Strickland said. “Dricus, can I get an agreement to the f****** death? To the f****** death! Godd*** respect him for that.”

The middleweights shook hands to acknowledge the unusual wager and that appeared to bury the hatchet between them.

The same can’t be said for Adesanya after he picked du Plessis to win the fight at UFC 297 and beat Strickland to become the new middleweight champion. Strickland didn’t take aim at the prediction as much as sending Adesanya a harsh reminder how their fight played out.

“Listen Izzy, the f****** guy, the f****** cringelord, the pup play himself. F*** Izzy,” Strickland said. “I could have took Izzy down and beat his ass on the ground but I chose to stand with him like a man. What did he do the whole fight? Run away like a b****. Izzy, shut your f****** mouth.”

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The UFC 297 Pre-Fight Press Conference took place on Thursday in Toronto, Canada.  Following the question and answer session, the fighters faced off with their opponents, including main event fighters Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

UFC 297 takes place on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena and is headlined by two world title bouts.  The middleweight title bout headlines the fight card while the vacant women’s bantamweight title is on the line in the co-featured bout.  Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will fight for the vacant championship.  The two had a heated exchange during the press conference.

UFC 297 Face-Offs: Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis 

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