Dricus du Plessis Post-Fight Press Conference | UFC 297

Summary

UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira discusses his emotions after defeating Sean Strickland via split decision to win the title. He talks about the fight being very close and competitive, needing to make adjustments after losing the first round, proving doubters wrong about his cardio by fighting hard through all five rounds, and feeling he did enough to deserve the decision victory. Pereira also touches on wanting to bring a UFC event to South Africa, believing he can become South Africa's greatest fighter ever, and what an incredible moment it was to celebrate with his family in the Octagon after realizing his dream.

Takeaways

• 😀 Dern feels he did enough to win the close fight against Strickland but understands people will score it either way
• 👊 Dern adjusted his strategy after the first round to be more aggressive and go toe-to-toe with Strickland's boxing
• 🥊 Dern credits his coaches for having the right gameplan to deal with Strickland's strong jab
• 😎 Dern proved his gas tank and cardio by pushing hard through the championship rounds
• 🏆 Winning the title was emotional for Dern after 15 years of hard work and sacrifice to achieve this dream
• 🌍 Dern wants to bring a UFC event to South Africa to showcase the incredible energy and vibes from fans there
• 🇿🇦 Dern ranks his title win among the best accomplishments ever for a South African athlete
• 🤜 Dern aims to have a long championship reign and continue defending against worthy contenders
• 🍻 Dern plans to celebrate his big win in Toronto enjoying the food, parties and drinking beer
• 🥲 Sharing the title win moment with his family in the Octagon meant everything to Dern

Q & A

How did Paulo Costa feel when he heard his name announced as the new champion?

Paulo Costa said it felt incredible and surreal, like 15 years of hard work and sacrifice had finally paid off when he heard his name announced as the new champion.

What adjustments did Paulo Costa make after losing the first round to Sean Strickland?

After losing the first round, Paulo Costa said he realized he couldn't let Strickland get away with the jab. So in the third round, he started turning up the pace and fighting more aggressively in his own style.

How did Paulo Costa deal with having one eye swollen shut during the fight?

When one of Paulo Costa's eyes swelled completely shut for a period, he said it was the first time he couldn't see out of an eye during a fight. But his corner iced it between rounds to bring the swelling down quickly.

What gave Paulo Costa confidence going into the championship rounds?

Going into the 4th and 5th rounds, Paulo Costa felt great and told his corner he was going to prove a lot of people wrong about his cardio and gas tank.

How did Paulo Costa try to disrupt Sean Strickland's rhythm in the fight?

Paulo Costa used takedown attempts, even unsuccessful ones, to disrupt Sean Strickland's rhythm and boxing gameplan. He wasn't necessarily trying to complete the takedowns.

What adjustments did Paulo Costa's coaches make to deal with Strickland's jab?

Paulo Costa's coaches studied Strickland's previous fights and felt timing kicks would be an effective way to counter the jab. The body kicks started landing clean in the 3rd round.

How did Paulo Costa feel about going the full 25 minutes in a close fight?

Paulo Costa was happy to go the full 25 minutes, feeling it proved he has the cardio and gas tank to fight at championship pace for 5 rounds.

What was Paulo Costa's message to fans who thought he lost the fight?

When asked about fans who thought he lost, Paulo Costa essentially said the judges disagreed and he felt he did enough in a very close fight to deserve the win.

What does Paulo Costa want his UFC championship reign to look like?

Paulo Costa said he wants to take on all deserving contenders as champion. He doesn't want easy fights just to pad his title defense record.

What did it mean for Paulo Costa to have his family in his corner for the title fight?

Having his parents and brothers in his corner meant everything to Paulo Costa. He had promised his dad as a teenager he would one day win a UFC title for them.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Discussing the emotions and meaning of winning the championship fight

The fighter talks about the emotional rollercoaster leading up to the split decision win and what it meant to finally realize his 15 year dream of becoming a champion after years of hard work and sacrifice.

05:01

🇿🇦 Pushing for UFC event in South Africa with first African champion

The new champion discusses bringing UFC to South Africa now that there is an African title holder, noting it is long overdue after much work to make it happen. He expects an electric atmosphere unique to South Africa sports.

10:03

👊 Adjusting strategy and pressure to overcome opponent's strong skills

The fighter talks about adapting his strategy after losing the first round, applying constant forward pressure to overcome his opponent's effective jab and footwork. He started landing more as his opponent tired.

15:04

😀 Appreciating crowd support changing from pro-opponent to pro-champion

The newly crowned champion noticed the crowd support change during the fight as his cheering section grew louder, appreciating that the fans got behind him after initially favoring his opponent.

🍻 Planning celebrations with food, beer and partying after winning the title

When asked about planned celebrations, the champion talks about enjoying meals and beers in Toronto then big parties back home in South Africa to celebrate his accomplishment with family and friends.

💪 Proving wrong critics about conditioning with championship rounds

Going 5 championship rounds proved wrong critics saying conditioning was a weakness. The fighter was happy to silence those critics and show he has the gas tank to go the distance.

Keywords

💡Champion

The word 'Champion' refers to the fighter who wins the championship belt and title in their weight class in the UFC. The transcript focuses on Paulo Costa achieving his dream of becoming the UFC middleweight champion after defeating Sean Strickland. Words like 'belt', 'title', and 'win' are associated with being the champion.

💡Fight

The main event discussed in the video transcript is the UFC middleweight title fight between Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland. The word 'fight' appears many times as they discuss the closeness of the match, each fighter's strategy in the fight, and Costa's emotions after winning the fight.

💡Takedown

In MMA fights, a 'takedown' refers to one fighter forcing their opponent to the mat and gaining a dominant position over them. Costa discusses using takedowns at key moments to disrupt Strickland's rhythm and gameplan. Takedowns were a strategic part of Costa's approach.

💡Cardio

Having strong 'cardio' or cardiovascular fitness is important in MMA fights that go multiple rounds. Critics questioned Costa's conditioning, but he proved he had good cardio by going 5 full rounds. He talks about being happy to silence those critics.

💡Jab

The 'jab' is a basic punch but an important technique in boxing and MMA. Strickland used his strong jab to control the fight early on. Costa had to make adjustments to deal with the jab and limit its effectiveness.

💡Injuries

Fighting leads to injuries like bruises, cuts and swelling. Costa mentions dealing with injuries to his face and body after the bout, including his eye swelling shut temporarily.

💡South Africa

Costa is from South Africa originally. He talks excitedly about UFC finally bringing a major event to South Africa for the fans there to experience. It's a source of national pride for him.

💡Dream

Achieving his 'dream' of becoming a UFC champion was a recurring theme. Costa discusses the long journey and years of hard work and sacrifice to make his dream a reality after the win.

💡Strategy

Fighters have specific strategies and gameplans tailored to each opponent. Costa talks about the strategic adjustments his team made to counter Strickland's style after the first couple rounds.

💡Emotions

Costa describes the emotional rush and euphoria from having his dream come true after the fight. Words like 'incredible', 'surreal' and 'amazing' convey the emotions he was feeling.

Highlights

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Transcripts

[Music]

hello hello hello good night morning

anybody up for some

breakfast uh first of all

congratulations on the win um great

fight uh talk to us about the emotions

of actually having that belt in front of

you winning the world title and becoming

Champion wow I mean let's just talk

about the emotions I felt when we

started hearing one judge one judge and

now I go because I honestly thought

I did enough until they but it was a

close fight I'd make no mistake but I

thought I had it and then when that

Split Decision came I just went okay

this is 100%

50/50 and when they said and

knew it was it felt like 15 years of

work of dreaming of sacrificing of

everything came together in one single

sentence it was it's incredible it feels

surreal it's it's amazing the fight

itself right it was very close you know

some people are going to have it for him

some are going to have it for you you

are satisfied with your performance and

you do feel like you did enough to win

the fight yeah I thought I did enough to

win the fight um it was definitely a

close fight I definitely gave him the

first round and I made the necessary

adjustments to um you know in the fifth

round I we didn't give him the round I

thought thought at the end I don't know

how they scored it to be honest

um listen it was a close fight I'm not

going to lie it was one of those fights

[Music]

where there wasn't even time to really

think of what is happening but I do

believe with the takedowns that I got it

was very back and forth with the

Striking um one for him one for me and

uh I try to um stay ahead with the

takedowns by round four and five he did

a good job of Defending those but

obviously my takedowns got a bit slop

and he he started you know reading them

but those takedowns weren't really for

getting a takedown they were more to

disrupt his game plan but at the end of

the day I went toe-to-toe with the well

self-proclaimed and some people think

best boxer in the UFC yeah I want to

talk about his boxing right everyone

knows that he's a good boxer but when

you're in there and you're dealing with

that jab especially in the earlier part

of the fight you was thinking to

yourself oh yeah he is as good as they

say yeah yeah no listen he is good he's

definitely good uh he caught me the

first round um with the jab and then I

realized I can't let him get away with

that jab cuz my game plan was obviously

first two rounds our plan was 100% to

fight his fight not to go out and fight

the way that I fight you'll see how the

fight changed from the third round I I

went more to my style but that was our

game plan for the first two rounds he

Jabs I jab one two nothing serious and

then from round number three we start

turning it up and uh obviously I had a

lot of people to prove wrong with my gas

tank and I believe I did that tonight

you called for Israel after the fight I

mean there's been a lot of talk about

how the the result of this fight might

have effects on UFC 300 I mean I can see

your face you're wearing a little bit of

damage do you think you could turn

around that quick and if not is Israel

still the guy that you'd like to fight a

little bit of damage do do you remember

how handsome I was before this

fight I look like a cauliflower now but

uh yeah I mean

I'm pretty banged up right now I don't

feel like listen I'm I'm up for another

round if they want to go um right now

but yeah I don't want to put a timeline

on it but usually 300 sound's

amazing and just to be for the last one

Israel out is the guy you want right

there's still some personal issues there

that you'd like to resolve and you think

that sort of fight is the one that's

perfect for your first title defense oh

no it's nothing personal it's not

personal at all that's just the fight

the fans want to see uh I want to fight

the best competition there's a lot of

guys are going to be fighting but the

fans want to see Israel desna

versus you know there's a lot of hype

that was already built on it if the fans

go if there's some way they start

tracking and saying listen the fans

don't really want to see adna versus DC

we don't do that fight makes it's fine

to me I have I don't care who it is but

that is a fight on top of my head that I

think the people want to see and that's

going to you know get a lot of people

excited right here uh Sean just TW

tweeted saying that uh he was

referencing a headbutt in the fight made

it difficult to see but he did give you

congratulations and props on the fight

did you notice any headbutt in there

from either you or him no no no no I

can't say that I had I can't say that I

did it's the first I'm hearing of it now

I didn't feel a hit butt did he say I

hit butted him he said uh this is him

saying he said well man that

headbut really made it difficult to see

but I thought we got it we I thought we

got the job job done onto the next one

no I can't remember any head butt Danel

was in here and when we asked him about

you know South African Champion uh

bringing the UFC to South Africa he said

absolutely seemed pretty adamant about

it so are you going to kind of get in

his ear now that you have the belt like

it's now or never essentially yeah it's

going to be now for a long time but um

yeah I think it's time I think we've

worked our asses off to get this uh

event to to Africa and South Africa and

it's time that happened just so for the

record is there some people that think I

lost the

fight Dana said it well

uh kind of going off of the

South AF talk what went through your

mind when you saw the the crowd they

showed it in the arena on the the big

screen the fans in South Africa watching

your fight and cheering when you got the

belt yeah that was that was absolutely

incredible um you know there's one thing

about South Africa that I think uh if

the USC goes there and the whole world

is going to see you have never fou the

vibe when it comes to sport like South

Africa and last one for me what do you

want your title rign to be because

lately we see these Champions they they

get one or two defenses and they start

talking about going up uh the

middleweight division right now is

pretty wide open with contenders that

haven't fought for the belt or fought

you do you want to you know go after

these title defense records do you want

double champ status what do you

ultimately want your Reign to be yeah

listen I definitely I want to do what is

expected because is do I want double

champ status

absolutely but I'm willing toh to earn

that if there's contenders that make

sense I don't want to fight my um

contenders that doesn't make sense you

know fighting isra desna makes sense

fighting guys that deserve the title

shots make sense but I don't want to

just fight somebody because I don't want

to be Israel the that fought John

Strickland yeah Strickland won that

fight but they should have never never

fought in my opinion when you say uh

contenders that don't make sense do you

mean Fighters like hamzat who maybe

haven't fought a middleweight ranks

because he's also tweeting like see you

soon and referencing UFC 300 yeah but he

said that to Jon Jon so I mean who takes

that guy seriously

anyway dck is over here um beyond the

the facial injuries are there any other

injuries you're dealing

with um yeah I mean the body feels

pretty banged up right now but I can't

say for sure how severe these injuries

are you were having a lot of success

with the the kicks throughout the fight

was that something that you saw going

into this that would be a key part of

your strategy or was that something that

just became available throughout the

fight and you saw the success and kept

with it yeah no no this is something we

worked uh we um we saw in all of his

fights he's really good at evading these

kicks um we saw with isra desna he

wasn't very successful with his kicks

because of Sean's do defense I got a few

good head kicks in I got a few good low

kicks in um it was just a timing that we

um we had figured out a little bit

better than than um Izzy did in that

fight um but yeah anytime you're going

to fight a guy with a strong and good

jab um I thought you know my coaches um

Coach man he he's obviously a genius

when it comes to these things we looked

at the fight and said that's how we're

going to take care of jab and those

kicks did start to hurt him by round

number three 100% And His jab became a

lot lighter in that third round

definitely you also answered a lot of

questions going into the the fourth and

fifth rounds for the first time in your

career can you just tell us especially

that going into the fifth round sort of

what your corner is telling you and

mentally are you just on autopilot at

that point like take us through your

emotions just preparing for those final

five minutes no not at all I mean I went

into the fth round and I said to my g

wow can you believe it I guess I have a

gas tank

and um he said this is the last 15

minutes of your life and I said damn

straight and um you know we basically I

was I was happy to be there in that

fifth round it wasn't auto pilot at all

it was damn I feel great for a fifth

round when we went to the fourth round I

felt damn I'm going to prove a lot of

people wrong

tonight D is right here um at what point

in the fight do you think you kind of

had Sean's game plan and and what he

brought to the fight figured out um it

seemed like in the first round was kind

of establishing the jabin and whatnot

but the commentary mentioned that by

around maybe the end of the second he

really started to get a bit closer him

and started Landing more punches and

that continued for the rest of the fight

where do you sort of think you figured

him out yeah exactly that I think um the

first two rounds we spent and no was our

plan to fight his fight to see where it

is obviously keep him on the back foot

it was it's a lot easier said than then

to keep him on the back foot because he

comes forward and um he has a very

strong how can I say his March he

doesn't storm forward but he has a

strong March he the way he moves it

makes it hard to push him backwards but

I just kept on putting the pressure on

Sha every time he jabed moving forward

moving forward yeah I took a couple of

bunches more than I would have liked but

keeping um him every time he hits I move

in I move forward and um you know even

him being the CIO machine that he is by

the Third round you can't keep on

fighting with that kind of pressure he

got tired and that's where I really

started Landing more and more I think it

was in rounds two or three when your eye

started really swelling up um obviously

you can I think you can see out of it

but was there any issue visibility

issues and was there a concern in the

corner that it could get worse yeah I

mean uh good us to to to the uh to the

cutman on that uh he hit me with a jab

in the first I didn't feel it really I

could feel he got me and um all of a

sudden I just felt this thing in my eye

but it didn't hurt and his his Corner

screamed and said he's already bleeding

and I thought am I am I really

bleeding and then in the second he

caught me with on this eye again I think

and all of the sudden this eye went

completely shut like I couldn't see and

I was like ah come on one

eye and that was the first time for me

in a fight where my eye was completely

shut for a while like I couldn't see and

um then I went to back to the corner

they put the ice thing on it and uh the

swelling went down immediately so good

said to the cutman it helped a lot and

then I I cut him we spoke about it in

the doctor's rooms and I caught him with

a big punch and his eyes started

bleeding and I looked at the blood

flowing and I said oh I hope that goes

into his

eyes and he said and I look at him and

I'm like that has to be in your eyes

come on and he went like this

and I said gotcha and he tried not to he

said he tried not to wipe so I can't see

it in his eyes but then he started

wiping and I was like yeah well the now

we're level now we're level and I

started yeah so I mean but all in all I

mean Sean s is an absolute Warrior and

will respect for him what's the biggest

Improvement you think you've made over

the past 13 or so months and the reason

I say 13 is that dates back to your

fight with Darren till and that was a a

tough back and forth fight you got to

win but it was not a not an easy one um

and now you're not knocking out Robert

wher you're beating Sean Strickland for

the title what changed yeah nothing

changed I just got my ring time I just

got my octagon time

and um settled settled found a home in

the UFC like I said that's what I need

found a home we we had some problems um

in terms of the conditioning which we

fixed I feel incredible I think it's

just about finding your feet in that

octagon and accepting and believing that

you're one of the best in the world I

know you would have liked an early

finish in the fight obviously you don't

get paid by the hour but were you kind

of happy as well to go the distance to

kind of Silence some of those critics

that were saying cardio was going to be

an issue in this fight yeah I mean that

was a good that's a that's a big plus

point for the fact that we win five

rounds is the fact that I

could uh hopefully my cardio is uh um

the discussion of the past if not keep

on doubting I don't care um at your own

demise of course but you know if I'm

going to do a decision like with the

Brad ofar fight I said if I have to go

to a decision and i' have to do it this

way any day of the week I mean I haven't

watched the fight but we got fir tonight

and um it sounded like it was a banger

and in that case I'm more than happy to

go to distance how big of a boost was it

your teammate won last night it unified

uh you know and that story in itself was

kind of crazy with him coming to torona

with you getting the phone call getting

the fight and get getting a pretty big

win there um how much should that kind

of give you a little bit boost going

into to the title fight tonight yeah I

mean I'm really happy for Mary Mar uh uh

Mar I honestly think he's the next guy

to come in you know he didn't get to

finish last night but you know it was a

what 10day notice fight for him uh he

did what he had to to win that fight so

I'm really happy for him and hopefully

he gets opportunity soon and uh you know

to to be here presenting my team team

CIT in

Petoria you know um it's it's a so many

people are looking up to me and going if

he's there I train with him I can do

that and that means the will to me and

just last one for me um the crowd was

chanting DDP I know earlier in the week

uh you know they're kind of pro

strickling but how was your overall

experience in Toronto it really seemed

like you won the fans over with that

performance tonight yeah I love Toronto

I have to say it is it's amazing I'm

staying a couple of days extra um but

yeah I mean Toronto uh this whole week I

said they may they might not be fans of

me but I kind of like it here Jus right

up front here just to sort of follow up

on that question could you sense during

the fight that the support was changing

a little because I I could tell you we

it seemed very Pro Strickland at first

and was till the end as well but then

your cheering section got super loud

could you sense that while you were

fighting yeah yeah no I heard it when

they started dedp DB I was like oh man

these guys ain't

loyal uh if the USC were to go to South

Africa uh would it have to be

Johannesburg or Cape Town is there

another city I'm just neglecting to

mention would no yeah well it probably

be Johannesburg c toown one of those but

I mean there's a lot of great places UFC

can go in South Africa and um there's

been a lot of great athletes to come out

of your country where do you feel this

ranks you among the best athletes that

South Africa's ever produced that's a

very very hard

question um right now one of the best

and like uh I plan on being I want to be

known as the greatest ever trus right

here I know you had mentioned a little

bit ago maybe the possibility of the

future of being a double Champion that's

an aspiration and a goal uh the light

heavyweight champion Alex PR was in

Sea's Corner tonight and that news seem

seemed to come out like a couple hours

before the fight did you notice him

there when you I guess were waiting for

Shawn to come out and what did you think

of Alex cornering Shawn tonight no no no

I didn't notice him uh at all until I

saw him in the cage after the fight and

um yeah well

whatever are you a little surprised that

he would you know jump in there and do

that yeah no no I'm not I mean take all

the help you can get man thank you dck

is just looking back quickly on sort of

how you got here how cool is it it's a

bit Niche but is it cool to be the only

fighter who's ever won titles in EFC ksw

and now the UFC yeah that's pretty

amazing um you know to go out and say

every single organization I've ever

fought in I've been a champion is is

that's great I mean it's a it shows

consistency over whole career it shows

consistency over my career since I'm

since the age of 19 I've always had the

aspiration no matter where I am no

matter where I fight to be the

best uh Keith With Your autta Life

Magazine congratulations on the win and

realizing your dream um what is the next

week going to look like for you in terms

of like the

celebration geez I don't know I'll

probably

go yeah I'm going to drink a lot of beer

that's about it that's how much I can

answer you I'm it's going to be um I'm

going to be in in Canada and enjoy the

food scene definitely eat a lot um enjoy

the Super Bowl

Sunday um or is it is it now it's it's

Sunday it's tomorrow right like three

weeks no no no but uh I mean it's the

playoffs now right yeah that that that

thing I don't we don't have a football

in South Africa so but I know when they

play it's amazing the vibe is awesome

and well basically any any um situation

where I can drink beer it's going to be

great so there's going to be a party and

um the food scene in Toronto looks

amazing so I'm going to taste that out

and then we going to South Africa and

then the real party starts nice and a

very touching moment in the Octagon

after with your with your family I was

wondering if you could touch on that

because you spoke about bringing about a

hundred or so people over for the for

the fight and obviously it turned out

the way that you wanted and it was

wonderful seeing you with your uh with

your family inside the Octagon after can

you uh encapsulate what that moment

meant for you yeah absolutely incredible

me I have my mom and dad then you know

both my brothers in my corner meant the

absolute world my dad you know my first

amateur World title I fought for a K1

World title in um in Slovakia when I was

18 years old and that's for South

African that was also unheard of but

impossible they said it won't happen

even South Africa uh the coaches in

South Africa said that's not happening

uh because we just don't compete at the

level that these guys do and uh I made

it happen I became a junior world

champion and uh I promised my dad that

one day I will give him the USC World CH

World title I promise that him to be

able to see how proud my dad is of me

and all the support and love that my mom

and dad has been giving me my whole life

my whole career and they supported this

they wanted this just as bad as I did

and to be able to give them this Bel

means the absolute

world you getting a

parade uh I don't know I'll see

that'll be nice I would like a

parade thank you so much guys I

appreciate all of you thank

you