The UFC has a new Middleweight Champion as Dricus Du Plessis beat Sean Strickland over 5 rounds at UFC 297.
The first Pay-Per-View card of the year played out in front of a packed out Scotiabank Arena, Ontario Canada- With two titles on the line & a host of top names featuring as the promotion returned to Canada.
In the highly anticipated main event, many were expecting a gritty, wild affair from the very first bell but the two men took a while to get going in the championship bout. Strickland found a lot of success in the first round, utilising his jab and kicks to keep Du Plessis at bay. Over the second and third, the South African grew into the contest, landing some impressive takedowns and starting to sway the contest into his favour.
The early Strickland jab led to huge swelling around the left eye of Du Plessis as the bout rolled on but the challenger opened up a cut over the eye of the champion, who rallied in the fourth.
With it all to play for in the last round, both men were swinging until the final bell and as the bout went to the scorecards, there was lots of speculation as to if Strickland had done enough or if the middleweight division would see a new champion crowned.
Du Plessis took a split decision with the official scorecards reading 48-47, 47-48, 48-47.
Raquel Pennington claimed the vacant Bantamweight world title against Mayra Bueno Silva in the co-main event. All three judges saw the contest bout the same way, giving Silva the first round and Pennington the next four, with one just awarding Pennington a 10-8 scorecard in the final round.
In the hard fought 25 minute affair, Pennington’s constant striking kept Silva on the back foot and unable to utilise her game plan. Pennington’s desire to constantly push forward and not take a step back resulted in the American almost getting the finish in the fifth and final round when she tied up a head and arm choke but Silva managed to escape. The submission attempt was followed up with heavy strikes and really cemented the victory for Pennington.
It was far from a dream homecoming for Canadian duo Mike Malott and Marc-Andre Barriault. Malott was attempting to break into the Welterweight rankings against Neil Magny. Malott controlled the bout through the entirety and appeared to be cruising to a decision victory but with just 90 seconds left on the clock, Mangy slammed the Canadian to the mat and finished him with a barrage of strikes with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
Marc-Andre Barriault had a much more competitive meeting with Chris Curtis at Middleweight. Two of the judges gave every round to Curtis but one judge ruled the contest two rounds to one for Barriault, leading to one of a handful of split decisions on the night.
Arnold Allen suffered back to back losses for the first time in his professional career against Movsar Evloev. The Brit came in strong in the third but it was too little too late, with Evloev comfortably taking the first two rounds.
In the preliminary portion of the card, Gillian Robertson, Sam Patterson, Jimmy Flick & Jasmine Jasudavicius all picked up stoppage wins, with Garrett Armfield, Sean Woodson, Ramon Taveras collecting decision victories.
UFC 297 marked the start of a busy run for the promotion, heading back to the APEX on February 3rd when Roman Dolidze faces Nassourdine Imavov at a UFC Fight Night.
