Ahead of his first middleweight title defense at UFC 297, Sean Strickland reiterated his dislike for Colby Covington and revealed the bizarre place he keeps his UFC belt. 

Days before his highly-awaited bout against South Africa's Dricus Du Plessis, the ever-outspoken Strickland sat down with the UFC's Megan Olivi in his first ESPN interview as a UFC champion.

While the 185-pound king took jabs at Israel Adesanya and Conor McGregor early on, he spent a few minutes dissecting Covington's 'fraudulent' character. 

He said: 'I think being a UFC fighter, it is a sense of entertainment, [like] WWE. 

'But you wanna base your character on like authenticity. 

'And then you have somebody like Colby who is like a fictional persona that he created when he's not trying to fall on Trump's d***.'

'It's the most cringeworthy s*** bro,' he continued. 'It's so f***ed up, Trump left the arena while he's giving a speech. It's like watching the ugly girl get rejected at a party.'

Strickland first sounded off on Covington when the latter said welterweight champion Leon Edwards' late father was in 'seventh layer hell.' 

The following day, Strickland labelled Covington an 'utter piece of s***' for his foul remarks. Covington then lost a lackluster decision to Edwards before his idol Trump exited during his in-cage interview. 

Later in his conversation with Olivi, Strickland revealed that, unlike many champions, he did not enclose his belt in a case or frame for display. 

'It's hidden in my closet under a pile of dirty clothes,' he said. 'I have a lot of like Monster [Energy] s*** laying around so they might just be borderline dirty.'

Strickland went on to explain the lack of sentiment that the highly-coveted belt holds for him. 

'One of my favorite quotes [is]: "If they'll fight for tin and ribbon, give them tin and ribbon". You know, it's fraudulent.' 

While Strickland sees little to no value in the belt, the title it symbolizes will be on the line this Saturday when he faces a tough contender in Du Plessis. 

Strickland replaced his challenger to face former champion Adesanya in September and shocked the world with a dominant performance. The upset placed Strickland on top of the division and on a collision course that culminates in Toronto this weekend. 

The two built much tension around the fight when they engaged in a cage-side brawl at UFC 296 in December. After being sat a row apart, an verbal exchange quickly escalated as Strickland launched an all-out attack on his rival. 

Strickland walks into the title defense with a 28-5 record following a three-fight win streak. 

Meanwhile, Du Plessis looks to capture gold and add another win to his 20-2 career. Du Plessis is listed as the underdog despite finishing his last eight opponents.