A bit of a controversy marred Dricus du Plessis‘s win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. While some agreed with the judges handing him a decision victory, others, including Dana White, backed the former champion being the clear victor. But with hours left for their UFC 312 rematch, Dricus du Plessis is looking to settle the debate with a rather bold prediction of his headlining fight against Strickland.

Dricus du Plessis is surely not underestimating what Sean Strickland brings to the table, which was apparent in his recent statement. Given that the last fight was a pretty close contest, the middleweight champion was looking to target the weaknesses of the former champ with more precision because he didn’t try hard enough in his last fight. ‘Stillknocks’ simply wants to make Strickland quit, which is something that the ever-vocal UFC star has never done in his MMA career.

“You have two guys not willing to give up. And I have to find more holes… I need to break him down where he does not want to be in there anymore,” Dricus du Plessis told ESPN. “I think I did an okay job in there in the first fight, but I need to be doing harder, I need to do it better and I need to be more accurate, more composed until he breaks because I know I can let him break in there.”

Furthermore, Dricus du Plessis is also willing to take the fight to the ground if the opportunity presents itself against his known nemesis. “If we’re in the exchanges where wrestling is needed, I’m more prepared to actually be able to wrestle and grapple if need be,” the champion added. On the other hand, Sean Strickland’s camp seems to be concerned about the game plan for this rematch due to how the last fight turned out. Let’s take a look at what was said on that front.

Sean Strickland’s coach predicts a ‘chess match’ against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312

Xtreme Couture’s and Sean Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, claimed that there were a lot of dilemmas while preparing the game plan for the rematch against Dricus du Plessis. Since the fight was a close one, there was a bit of hesitance in framing a new tactic all over again, since Strickland’s last loss was really a decisive one. While there has been the addition of some tactics, Nicksick has a hunch that this fight is going to be the same as the last one.

“It [preparing for the fight] can be a catch-22 I think in a lot of ways because the first fight was so close,” Sean Strickland’s coach told From The Stands. “You don’t want to blow up the game plan and start all over, but you also have to add some new wrinkles and stay ahead of what they might try to game plan for. There’s a little bit of a chess match there… That’s where I’m at with it.”

Well, we’re just hours away from finding out whose game plan will work wonders, but in the meantime, share with us your predictions for the rematch between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Let us know in the comments down below.