UFC Commentator Laura Sanko Weighs in on Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis Brawl

UFC commentator Laura Sanko would rather see fighters scuffle than get personal with their trash talk.

Sean Strickland is scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis in the main-event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. Things turned ugly between the two during a seasonal 2024 press conference where “Stillknocks” brought up the champ’s abusive childhood.

Strickland latter admitted that he was definitely triggered by the comments, which led to him attacking the South African while attending UFC 296 the next day. Strickland was seen leaping over chairs and throwing punches Du Plessis before being separated by police and escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena. Sanko admittedly prefers the physical scuffle between the two at UFC 296, as it saves ugly trash talk potentially involving the fighters’ families.

“I realize what game we’re in. I actually prefer guys have physical fights than do this s—t, if I’m being honest,” the UFC commentator said in an interview with Michael Bisping. “Because that way the family doesn’t get dragged into it, and that way there’s not statements and altered photographs that live on the internet for years and years and years for your kids to have to Google. If you’re going to get into a fight with each other then go for it. I actually liked the fact that he fought Dricus and I liked how [he] handled the whole situation.”

Strickland recently went on comedian Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, where he shared harrowing details of his traumatic childhood. Sanko appreciated Strickland showing a more vulnerable side.

“Listen, I’m a huge fan of Sean as a fighter and as a person. All his antics aside, they don’t really bother me,” Sanko said. “But he kind of walked right into that. Like, you can’t… I watched his video with Theo Von and I thought… I commended him for it, I thought it was incredibly moving. I thought it was honest, I thought it was open, I think he will help a lot of people by being as vulnerable as he was.”