"The man can take a punch" - Dricus du Plessis hails Sean Strickland's toughness more than a month after UFC 297 title win

Dricus du Plessis has given credit to Sean Strickland's durability after their clash earlier this year.

Strickland entered UFC 297 in Toronto as the reigning and defending UFC middleweight champion, while Du Plessis was a very game-challenging player. Quite the back-and-forth battle was waged, with DDP earning the split decision win on Jan. 20 and cementing himself as the new titleholder at 185 pounds.

Earlier today on his Instagram page, @dricusduplessis, he addressed Strickland with a mid-fight photo and a corresponding caption that stated:

"Say what you will the man can take a punch!"

Check out Dricus du Plessis' quote on Sean Strickland's toughness below

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Dricus du Plessis and what could be next for him

Dricus du Plessis readies to make that all-important first title defense. However, we don't necessarily know the who, what, when, where, and why of that next fight for the 30-year-old.

Israel Adesanya has claimed that he accepted a fight with DDP at UFC 300 for the belt but stated the champion's side did not sign on for the April 13 bout. The former two-time UFC middleweight champion discussed this on Theo Von's podcast recently and mentioned that the timing of the fight was likely unrealistic for Du Plessis based on the injuries he sustained fighting Strickland.

The Du Plessis vs. Adesanya bout also faced similar issues when Adesanya was the reigning champion. DDP was supposed to contend for Izzy's belt after besting Robert Whittaker, but a foot injury last July took Du Plessis out of the running. This created the vacancy that Strickland eventually took, and he defeated Adesanya to become the new champion last September.

Adesanya is currently the number two-ranked UFC contender in the middleweight division.

The South African native is riding a nine-fight winning streak after dropping his KSW welterweight title to Roberto Soldic at KSW 45 in October 2018.

'Stillknocks' could also conceivably rematch Strickland, considering he's the number one contender at middleweight and the razor-thin nature of the verdict in their first fight. Whatever is next for Du Plessis, the collective mixed martial arts world will be paying close attention to it.