UFC's Dana White takes blame for Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis melee: 'How f---ing stupid is that?'

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UFC President Dana White didn’t mince words Saturday night when he was asked about the melee involving fighters Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

The two fought in the stands ahead of UFC 297 on Jan. 29. They were in attendance for UFC 296, which was main-evented by Colby Covington and Leon Edwards. White took responsibility for the brawl, blaming himself for putting the two heavy hitters next to each other.

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Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis face off during the UFC 2024 seasonal press conference at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Dec. 15, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

"What kind of an a--hole sits Strickland next to du Plessis," White asked rhetorically. "This a--hole, that’s who. … I do every seating assignment every week. How f---ing stupid is that? I mean, seriously, I don’t know what humans you can sit Strickland next to, but definitely not Du Plessis. I don’t know how I missed that."

"It's my job to make sure that stuff doesn’t happen. If I wasn’t an a--hole, those two wouldn’t have been sitting next to each other. It blows my mind that I let that slip."

Du Plessis was booing Strickland before the latter stood up, pointed an imaginary gun in his direction and fired away. That’s when Strickland turned around and started having words with Du Plessis. Strickland then told those in between him and Du Plessis – at least one kid was in the row behind him – to move over.

With cameras still trained on them, Strickland approached Du Plessis and started to throw punches, landing his right hand on Du Plessis’ head numerous times.

Dricus Du Plessis