Chris Curtis expects another wild fight from Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) is set to rematch middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the February 8 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card will stream on ESPN+ pay-per-view, following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Their first encounter at UFC 297 concluded with a split decision. Du Plessis was awarded the victory over Strickland, securing the 185-pound belt. Notably, Du Plessis lost his only previous career rematch against Roberto Soldic. He initially defeated Soldic by TKO to claim the KSW welterweight title but was knocked out in their second bout.
“Fighting Dricus is like fighting a coked-out chimpanzee in a phone booth,” Curtis told MMA Junkie. “You’re just like, what’s happening? But it’s really overwhelming and surprising for guys because you’re like, who fights like this? What are you doing? And the dude is just out of his mind, trying to win.”
“I respect that, but I feel like stylistically, in the second fight, when you kind of know what to expect and you understand that he’s dancing to his own song, I wonder how that goes because his only rematch with Soldic, he lost. Yeah, that’s years ago, but I think it’s telling since once guys figure that out, you learn what to look for. I think it becomes a different fight.”
Curtis acknowledges that the same applies to Strickland, where Du Plessis could detect his patterns.
“It’s just going to be such a weird fight,” Curtis said. “It’s going to be coked-out chimpanzees in a phone booth, and I want to see it. I believe in Sean, he’s one of the hardest-working dudes I’ve ever met. I think he can do it, I’m pulling for him, but at the end of the day, I just want to see this happen because honestly, it’s the most high-level circus fight you’ll ever see.”
Curtis and Strickland recently reconciled after they fell out due to a social media dispute. Everything is fine now, but Curtis, who is set to face Roman Kopylov on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 249 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+), admitted he wouldn’t be surprised if they clashed again.
“I’ve never left the gym, Sean and I fight a lot,” Curtis said. “When you’ve known somebody for that long, you’re bound to have some friction. Especially when you know someone that long, you know how to get under each other’s skin. We’ve had words, and we’ve had fistfights on multiple occasions.”
“It’s always going to be that way. We’re very different personalities, with different beliefs and boundaries. We’ve crossed those boundaries more than most people. So, it’s going to happen. It’s just a part of the game.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
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