The feud between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis has been somewhat exaggerated.
"He's a good dude," Strickland said of the man he will defend his middleweight belt against in the main event of Saturday's UFC 297 card in Toronto.
"From my side, there's no bad blood at all," said the South African challenger. "I have a lot of respect for Sean as a fighter and even as a person."
You could be forgiven for assuming Strickland and Du Plessis detest each other, though.
After a heated pre-fight press conference that saw the pair exchange vicious trash talk, they came to blows in the crowd at last month's UFC 296 card in Las Vegas—an incident that quickly went viral on social media and supercharged interest in their upcoming clash.