Sean Strickland is taking his championship loss in stride.
The now-former UFC middleweight champion dropped his title to Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event Saturday in Toronto, with du Plessis earning a split decision win after a close five-round fight.
Strickland was a bloody mess during stretches of the fight, a state that he attributed to a head butt during the fight in a social media post.
Well fuck haha... man that headbutt really made it difficult to see but I thought we got the job done. Blood and all!!! Onto the next one!!! Thanks everyone who supported me!!!!!!
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) January 21, 2024
“Well, f***, ha ha... man, that head butt really made it difficult to see, but I thought we got the job done,” Strickland wrote. “Blood and all. On to the next one. Thanks everyone who supported me.”
In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Strickland and du Plessis were respectful and complimentary of each other in their post-fight interviews.
It was the first loss for Strickland since December 2022, ending a four-fight stretch that saw him upset Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 to become world champion before dropping the belt in his first defense. Du Plessis defeated Strickland with a pair of 48-47 scores on two of the judges’ cards.
Du Plessis was asked about the alleged head butt at the evening’s post-fight press conference, and he answered that he wasn’t aware of any foul, accidental or otherwise.
“No, I can’t say that I did,” Du Plessis said. “It’s the first time I’m hearing of it. No, I didn’t feel a head butt during the fight. ... No, I can’t remember any head butt.”
