Dricus du Plessis makes cold-hearted confession about mindset ahead of Sean Strickland rematch at UFC 312: "Am I still willing to die?"

Dricus du Plessis is ready to give his all in his upcoming title fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 312. This was evidenced by du Plessis' chilling revelation about his ability to kill his opponent in front of his family.

Du Plessis will return to the octagon this weekend for his second middleweight title defense in a rematch against Strickland at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Ahead of the title fight, the reigning champion spoke to Mark Bouris on the latter's YouTube channel. He opened up about his strong mentality, citing his relentless pursuit to hurt his opponent until the intervention of the referee.

''When I go in there, if the ref doesn’t stop it, I’m not stopping. I can be sitting on you for 10 minutes bashing your face and if the ref doesn’t say stop, I’m not stopping. That is the question that me, as a modern-day gladiator has to ask myself: Am I still willing to die Absolutely. That’s easy.''

Du Plessis added:

“Are you willing to kill a man in front of his family? Yes, I am, and that’s why I’m the world champion. I say yes to that question every single time. But that’s Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ Du Plessis. That’s not Dricus the guy that you see right here.”

Check out the full interview below (18:05):

The South African is now 8-0 in the organization, following a successful debut at UFC Fight Night 179. In his last outing, du Plessis faced his toughest battle yet in former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 last year, defeating him via fourth-round rear-naked choke submission.

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Dricus du Plessis talks openly about his inability to finish Sean Strickland at UFC 297

Dricus du Plessis captured the middleweight title from Sean Strickland in a split decision victory at UFC 297 last year, and the two will face off again this weekend at UFC 312.

Ahead of the matchup, during an interview with ESPN MMA, du Plessis stated that Strickland produced an impressive show, which is why their first encounter went the distance, saying:

''He [Strickland] was just too good. It wasn't for a lack of trying you could see that. I was showing everything. He was really good and I think the pace was so high in that fight but I only started pushing the pace later in the fight where I should have and now I know I can start pushing that pace from the with get go.''

Check out Dricus du Plessis' comments below (4:43):