Former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker has claimed he believes last weekend’s violent scuffle between defending divisional champion, Sean Strickland and former foe, Dircus du Plessis was “staged” – as the pair prepare for a grudge match at UFC 297 next month.
Whittaker, the current number three ranked middleweight contender, has been sidelined since he featured at UFC 290 back in July of this year during International Fight Week, suffering a surprising second round loss to incoming title challenger, du Plessis – succumbing to second round strikes in a TKO defeat.
As for Strickland and du Plessis, the duo faced off at a heated press conference on Friday in Las Vegas ahead of next month’s title fight in Canada, with the latter boldly reminding Strickland of the admitted child abuse and physical abuse he was the victim of at the hands of his late father.