“Colby Covington could never” – Dricus du Plessis refuses to press charges against Sean Strickland for UFC 296 brawl; fans react

On the sidelines of UFC 296, feuding rivals Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis engaged in an all-out brawl. Before their matchup in UFC 297 next, the fighters projected their pent-up resolves in a physical altercation. One which has subsequently faced the wrath of top honcho Dana White‘s ‘outburst‘ later on. But, despite the scuffle, the 20-2 South African phenom has been very mellow on the matter.

The tug-match started when Du Plessis dissed “Tarzan” on his abusive childhood, at the UFC 296 pre-fight Media Day presser. So next time, when Strickland saw Du Plessis mouthing off a challenge, he jumped him in the crowd. Despite that, the fighter surprisingly praised Strickland later on. Now, concurrently, here’s what he added to the matter:

I know Dana came to me and said, ‘Listen, this is the case. We’re really sorry about this…Obviously, the police had him and charges can be pressed because that’s assault…I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. Please no.’ We are two fighters. It was a good old scrap like we did before we became professionals…

Dricus Du Plessis

During the segment with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, the fighter also mentioned taking on Strickland’s “manliness” and hashing it out. If anything, Du Plessis considers the matter even more honorable than ever. Correspondingly, as of late, a post on X jibed on this, saying – “Colby Covington could never. This diss comes at the expense of Colby Covington suing rival contender Jorge Masvidal.

This was over an assault in Miami back in March 2022. Post-UFC 272, Masvidal had attacked him and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. Conversely, Covington’s move was perceived as unhonorable to the code of fighters.

Fans react to Dricus Du Plessis not pressing charges before UFC 297

While Colby “Chaos” Covington was preparing to duke it out for the UFC 296 main event, real chaos was spawning elsewhere. 185lbs titleholder Sean Strickland had lunged on his UFC 297 opponent Dricus Du Plessis. Covington did not take lightly to this matter. Speaking during UFC 296’s post-fight conference. he had slammed Strickland as a “liability“.

But unlike Covington who chose to sue rival Jorge Masvidal, Du Plessis has put his affair to rest. There is an unspoken commonality of ‘honor amongst fighters‘ where they hash it out in a brawl rather than choosing litigation or policing. And here’s how fans have reacted to it, on Du Plessis’s part:

A strikingly few fans have nudged that Covington was jumped unknowingly, unlike Du Plessis. In the aftermath of his loss, the welterweight also claimed ‘trainwreck’ Sean Strickland was an ‘easy fight’ for him while dismantling his reputation on the incident.

But despite his overreaching aspirations or garnered support, most fans have sided with Du Plessis instead of “Chaos” in not choosing to press charges.

In case you missed it:

• ‘Triggered’ Sean Strickland used Dricus du Plessis’ BRUTAL press conference insults as fuel for motivation, reveals coach
• “Bringing home or die trying” – Dricus Du Plessis sends FINAL message to fellow South Africans before boarding flight to Canada for UFC 297

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