Top flyweight shares three-word reaction to Alexander Volkanovski's facial expression just before Dricus du Plessis-Sean Strickland brawl at UFC 296

Amir Albazi recently reacted to Alexander Volkanovski seemingly knowing that Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland would fight at UFC 296.

In December 2023, Du Plessis and Strickland attended the UFC 296 pay-per-view event inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time, Du Plessis was scheduled to challenge Strickland for the middleweight title a month later, making it surprising that they were seated near each other.

Things escalated between Strickland and Du Plessis during the event, leading to a brawl in the crowd. Dana White later took the blame for the altercation, claiming he was responsible for accidentally sitting them only a few rows away.

Earlier this week, ESPN MMA posted a throwback image of Strickland turning around at UFC 296 to yell at Du Plessis. Former featherweight champion Volkanovski was seen smiling in the background.

Volkanovski reacted to his facial expression, saying:

"It was at this moment, he knew... sh*t was going down!"

UFC flyweight Albazi took to the comment section of ESPN MMA's Instagram post and had this to say:

"Volk the goat 😂"

Albazi's comment

At UFC 297, du Plessis secured a split decision win to become the new UFC middleweight champion. Slightly over a year later, Strickland will have an opportunity to avenge the defeat and become a world champion again.

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Sean Strickland looks to avenge loss in rematch against Dricus du Plessis

On June 1, Sean Strickland fought for the first time since losing against Dricus du Plessis. The former UFC middleweight champion bounced back from the defeat with a one-sided split decision against Paulo Costa.

In the meantime, Du Plessis defended his world title for the first time in August. The South African world champion overcame adversity against Israel Adesanya to secure a fourth-round submission via rear-naked choke.

Strickland's win against Costa was enough to earn him a rematch for UFC gold. On Feb. 8, 2025, Strickland looks to avenge his loss against Du Plessis during the UFC 312 main event, which goes down in Sydney, Australia.

The UFC 312 co-main event features Zhang Weili defending her women's bantamweight title against Tatiana Suarez.