UFC 297 will go down on Saturday night with two titles on the line and bouts which will have monumental implications across numerous divisions.
The promotion's first pay-per-view event of the year will take place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In the main event, Sean Strickland will look to make his first title defence since becoming the Middleweight champion at UFC 293. Standing across form him in the cage on Saturday night will be Dricus Du Plessis.
After the initial unsavoury verbal jousting between the two at the press conference prior to UFC 296, there seems to be some mutual respect between the two now, having met several times around the fighter hotel during fight wee.
Although being in the UFC for almost a decade, Strickland's time in the spotlight came relatively recently, when establishing a 6 fight win streak between 2018 & 2022. The run, which included wins against Brendan Allen, Uriah Hall and Jack Hermansson, led to a clash against Alex Pereira. 'Poatan' brought an end to Strickland's impressive run with a devastating first round KO at UFC 276.
Back in the cage just 5 months after the loss, Strickland faced Jared Cannonier. He dropped a split decision but many fellow athletes and pundits alike thought 'Tarzan' had done enough to walk away with the win.
Straight back to it, Strickland jumped at the chance to compete less than a month later against Nassourdine Imavov and worked out a well for decision win. Back in the win column and looking to build on momentum, Strickland faced Abus Magomedov and dispatched of him within 2 rounds and worked his way back up to the number 5 spot in the Middleweight division.
His crowning moment came at UFC 293, in a Middleweight title showdown against champion Israel Adesayna. Many had wrote Strickland off heading into the contest, believing 'The Last Stylebender' was levels above the Vegas man. He quickly put these beliefs to bed when he dropped Adesayna in the very first round and came extremely close to ending the contest. He remained in control throughout and only dropped one round in the five round affair, to become the new Middleweight king.
Du Plessis shone on the South African scene with EFC and the European with KSW before eventually making his way to the UFC. Since signing, it’s been a whirlwind for the South African native.
After 2 successful stoppages against Makrus Perez & Trevin Giles, Du Plessis faced Brad Tavares at UFC 276 in which he walked away with a comfortable unanimous decision victory.
The big names in the division then came around for ‘Stillknocks’. First up, was Darren Till who although was on a 2 fight losing streak, was still considered one of the best at 185lbs.
In a dominant display, Du Plessis submitted Till after taking the Liverpudlian to the mat with ease throughout the contest. Derek Brunson was next in line for the South African but once again, Du Plessis was too much for another one of the best the UFC had at his weight.
UFC 290 undoubtedly threw up Du Plessis biggest challenge to date, former title challenger Robert Whittaker. With Israel Adesanya being the only only man to beat Whittaker since 2014, it was largely thought that it may be too much too soon for Du Plessis. However, he proved the doubters wrong and ran through Whittaker in two rounds to take his place at the very top of the division.
The co-main event sees Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva battle it out for the vacant Bantamweight title. The women enter the contest on five fight and four fight unbeaten runs. Following one of the greatest to ever compete, Amanda Nunes, announcing her retirement from the sport following a victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289, the Bantamweight title was up for grabs and with Pennington and Silva sitting second and third in the rankings, respectfully, it seemed like the perfect matchup to be made. Number one ranked Juliana Pena will be keeping a close eye on the contest as she will look to make her comeback against the victor in the near future.
Mike Malott will be hoping for a dream homecoming when he faces Neil Magny in a Welterweight bout. Yet to see the third round in his UFC run, Malott has picked up two smooth submissions and a TKO on his rise through the 170lbs division. Magny has been a staple of the Welterweight division over the last decade. The vastly experienced 36-year-old and is no stranger to deep waters, having went the distance 8 times in his last 11 contests.
Marc-Andre Barriault will look to continue his win streak in a Middleweight contest against Strickland's team mate Chris Curtis. After a less than ideal start to life in the UFC, losing his first three and picking up a no contest in his fourth bout, the Candian appears to have found his feet and is entering the bout on the back of a two fight win streak. On the other hand, Curtis had an impressive start to his UFC run but had a difficult 2023, losing to Kelvin Gastelum before an accidental clash of heads led to a no contest against Nassourdine Imavov.
Arnold Allen will face Movsar Evloev in the opening bout of the main card. Looking to get back on track after losing to Max Holloway last time out, but never one to turn down a challenge, Allen faces another tough challenge in the shape of Evloev. The Russian will enter the bout looking to add leapfrog many in the 145lbs rankings and move ever closer to a title shot and a big win over Allen, to add to his perfect 17-0-0 record could certainly do that for him.
Elsewhere on the card, Sam Paterson will look to earn his first UFC win moving up to Welterweight to face Yohan Lainesse. Two-time The Ultimate Fighter Winner, Brad Katona will face Garrett Armfield at 135lbs and Charles Jourdain will square off with Sean Woodson in a competitive Featherweight contest.
Full UFC 297 card:
Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis
Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva
Neil Magny vs Mike Malott
Chris Curtis vs Marc-André Barriault
Arnold Allen vs Movsar Evloev
Brad Katona vs Garrett Armfield
Charles Jourdain vs Sean Woodson
Serhiy Sidey vs Ramon Taveras
Gillian Robertson vs Polyana Viana
Yohan Lainesse vs Sam Patterson
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Priscila Cachoeira
Malcolm Gordon vs Jimmy Flick
