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Main Event Spotlight | UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis
Take A Closer Look At The Middleweight Title Fight Between Sean Strickland And Dricus Du Plessis At UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis In Toronto, Canada
The wait is almost over for the UFC’s first pay-per-view event of 2024.
On January 20, middleweight champion Sean Strickland looks to successfully defend his title for the first time against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada. The card also features a women’s bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva in the co-main event.
Order UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis
If UFC fans were asked at the beginning of 2023 who would be competing for the middleweight title at the beginning of this year, not many would’ve said Strickland and Du Plessis. Flash back to January of last year. Alex Pereira was the middleweight champion, and Strickland was taking on Nassourdine Imavov on short notice in the first event of the year.
After losing to Pereira two fights prior, Strickland’s win over Imavov wasn’t enough to get him a rematch. Instead, Pereira rematched former champion Israel Adesanya, who finished his longtime foe in the second round to reclaim his throne. The result earned him UFC’s 2023 Knockout of the Year.
Sean Strickland's Athlete Profile
Strickland quickly earned his shot at the title after breezing through Abus Magomedov in July, setting up a matchup with Adesanya at UFC 293 in September. Coming into the fight as a massive underdog, Strickland dominated “The Last Stylebender” through 25 minutes; all three judges scored the fight 49-46 in favor of Strickland.
In that fight, Strickland showed why he’s one of the best strikers, statistically, in UFC history. Strickland, who landed 137 significant strikes on “The Last Stylebender,” has connected on 1,714 total significant strikes in his UFC career, the seventh most all-time in the promotion’s history.
As impressive as Strickland’s output was in that matchup, his defense was just as excellent. Strickland evaded 66 percent of Adesanya’s significant strike attempts, raising his middleweight defense to 65.4 percent, the fifth highest in UFC history at 185 pounds.
Dricus Du Plessis's Athlete Profile
Amidst all the commotion at the top of the middleweight division in 2023, Du Plessis was taking out challenger after challenger before eventually becoming the first person in line to take on the newly crowned champion.
In April, South Africa’s Du Plessis pounded his way to a TKO victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 285. Four months later, Du Plessis entered a bout against Robert Whittaker as a heavy underdog, but stunned the Las Vegas crowd with his second knockout victory of the year, securing himself as the next title challenger. Strickland versus Du Plessis will be the first middleweight title fight to not feature Adesanya since Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero to capture the interim title in 2017.
Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis get into fight in crowd at UFC 296
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Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis get into fight in crowd at UFC 296
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Du Plessis holds a perfect 6-0 record in the UFC, which is the currently the longest win streak at 185 pounds. In those six fights, which included wins over Whittaker, Darren Till and Brad Tavares, Du Plessis was never outstruck by his opponents. Du Plessis’ +3.16 significant strike differential is the largest in middleweight history.
Breaking Down UFC 297's Co-Main Event: Pennington vs Bueno Silva
Strickland’s and Du Plessis’ volume on the feet is something to behold. Du Plessis’ 6.95 significant strikes landed per minute is the highest strike rate in UFC middleweight history. At 6.08 significant strikes landed per minute, Strickland finds himself third all-time at 185 pounds. Where Du Plessis appears to have a significant advantage, however, is his power. While Strickland averages 0.31 knockdowns per 15 minutes, the UFC average, Du Plessis lands a knockdown 1.09 times per 15 minutes. Du Plessis has collected four knockout victories in his last six fights.
2023 AWARDS: The Upsets | The Submissions | The Newcomers | The Knockouts | The Fights
If anyone decides to take this fight to the mat, it’s more than likely going to be Du Plessis. At 2.72 takedowns per 15 minutes, Du Plessis finds himself well above the UFC average of 1.52 takedowns. In six fights, Du Plessis’ secured 50 percent of his takedown attempts, which is the fifth highest takedown accuracy among active middleweights. Du Plessis went a perfect six-for-six against Till en route to a third-round submission victory.
Strickland isn’t easy to take down, however, and he’s even more difficult to keep down. The champion has defended 84 percent of his opponents’ takedowns, which is nearly 20 percent higher than the UFC average. If you manage to take Strickland down, good luck keeping him there. Strickland has only spent 49 seconds, or 0.51 percent of his middleweight fight time, in bottom position – that’s the second lowest percentage in middleweight history.
On paper, UFC 297’s main event between Strickland and Du Plessis is as even as they come, making it nearly impossible to predict the outcome. Before it all goes down at middleweight, a women’s bantamweight champion will finally be crowned when Pennington squares off against Bueno Silva in the co-main event.
UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis also features a stacked undercard as Canada’s Mike Malott defends home turf against Neil Magny, The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 winner Brad Katona makes his highly anticipated return to the Octagon against Garrett Armfield and Arnold Allen challenges Movsar Evloev in a high-stakes featherweight bout.
UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis took place live from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on January 20, 2024. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
