"I will f**king stab you" - Sean Strickland says he issued cold warning to Dricus du Plessis in case the latter brings up his past again

Sean Strickland is set to defend his middleweight title for the first time when he faces Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 this weekend. The pair were involved in an altercation in the crowd at UFC 296 after the latter made comments about the former's childhood. 'Tarzan' recently warned 'Stillknocks' that he will stab him if he repeats the comments at this week's press conference.

Speaking to Chris Curtis on their podcast, The Man Dance, the middleweight champion stated:

"I actually sent him a f**king message and I was like, 'Dude, listen, Dricus, we're going to go try to murder each other, but if you bring that s**t up again, I will f**king stab you. Press conference, weigh in'."

After Curtis responded that du Plessis will likely bring it up, Strickland added:

"No, no, he was cool about it. He was cool about it, but again, I'm not telling you I don't want to fight you Dricus. I'm not saying you're not a good fighter. I'm just saying that that's a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting to like, if I go to Canada and you bring that up, well guess what, I'm going to go to jail, they're going to deport me and we spent eight weeks of training for no f**king reason."

Check out Sean Strickland's comments on stabbing Dricus du Plessis below:

Du Plessis previously referenced Strickland's rough upbringing, which the latter revealed involved abuse from his father. It is unclear if he will double down on his comments at any of this week's events leading up to their title bout.

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Israel Adesanya expected cageside for Sean Strickland's title bout with Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland was able to shock the world when he defeated Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 293. 'Tarzan' will defend his title for the first time at UFC 297 this weekend, marking the first middleweight title bout without 'The Last Stylebender' since UFC 217 in 2017.

Despite his absence from the card, the UFC is expecting the two-time middleweight champion to be cageside at the event, according to MMA Orbit, who tweeted:

"🚨| Israel Adesanya is expected to be cageside next weekend when Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis compete for the middleweight title. Although not fighting on the card, the UFC reportedly expects him there for promotional purposes. 👀 [per @nzherald ] #UFC297 #UFC #MMA"

Check out the tweet from MMA Orbit below:

While Adesanya had shared that he would take a break following his loss to Strickland, he recently revealed that his return will come in 2024. It appears that he could be next in line to challenge for the middleweight title.