Sean Strickland praises Dricus du Plessis' "heart" ahead of UFC 312 fight: "He doesn't fu*king break"

Sean Strickland last entered the octagon in June when he defeated Paulo Costa via split decision at UFC 302 to earn another title opportunity. He will make his return this weekend as he challenges Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title in a rematch of their closely contested clash at UFC 297, which 'Stillknocks' won via split decision to capture the belt.

'Tarzan' offered his upcoming opponent rare praise while speaking with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA ahead of their UFC 312 clash, stating:

"What I tell people at the highest levels of competition, motherf**kers break. I don't break, he doesn't f**king break. You think at some point a round is going to come where he's going to get off the stool and be like, 'I don't want to be here'."

Strickland continued:

"You can blind him in the eye, break his f**king nose and he's going to get up, me included, and we're going to f**king fight. At our level, we don't f**king break and we will die for what we want so that's why it comes down to my skills."

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

Du Plessis has received plenty of praise for his unorthodox style, which has continued to produce wins. The two fighters have both shared that they were unhappy with the result in their first clash and will have the opportunity to settle the score this weekend.

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Sean Strickland answers controversial question on least favorite race

Sean Strickland has never shied away from controversy, and that was once again the case when he answered a question regarding his least favorite race. The No.1-ranked middleweight stated:

"My least favorite race, I'm going to get f**king cancelled. The f**king China man. The China man is real bad, you guys. They're infecting you all with f**king TikTok. They're putting their s**tty a** f**king Amazon crap here. I would say the China man is the worst. Worst f**king tourists, too. If you've ever been around a China man, it makes you want to hate them."

He continued:

"Maybe the Indian. The Indian, too, is pretty f**king bad. Every time I got to call customer service... You got to f**king talk to Jack from where the f**k these Indians live. Pretty rough, too, dude. They put you on the customer service f**king loop where you just keep going around and around and around. I'm a multi millionare, why am I f**king haggling over ten bucks, but I find a lot of Indians over the phone so the China man or the Indian."

Check out Sean Strickland's comments on his least favorite race below:

Strickland's comments are the latest in a long line of controversial statements by the No.1-ranked middleweight. They come just days after UFC CEO Dana White had to issue a statement regarding remarks made by No.13-ranked featherweight Bryce Mitchell, which praised Nazi leader Adolf H*tler.