Du Plessis chases UFC title glory

South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis will look to claim Ultimate Fighting Championship gold when he faces Sean Strickland for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 297, set for the Scotiabank Arena in Ontario, Canada, on Sunday morning.

Strickland (28-5) caused a major upset when he defeated Israel Adesanya (via unanimous decision) in September last year to claim the middleweight strap – though to be fair it was a third successive win (and a ninth from his last 11 trips to the Octagon) for ‘Tarzan’.

Du Plessis (20-2), meanwhile, is unbeaten in the UFC since his series debut in October 2020, racking up six successive wins to become the top contender in the division. His last outing brought an impressive second-round TKO of Robert Whittaker in July 2023.

The pair have already come to blows, having a scuffle in the stands of UFC 296 in Las Vegas last month, with ‘Stillknocks’ convinced that it foreshadowed a mental dominance he holds over the champion.

“I’m feeling absolutely great and the fact that he’s triggered only plays into my advantage,” Du Plessis said.

“I can’t believe how easy it was to mentally trigger him. I thought Sean Strickland, he’s just bashing everybody around, about everything on everybody, and one little sentence and the man loses his mind. Shows you how easily mentally he’ll be broken.”

The middleweight championship will not be the only title on the line at UFC 297, with Raquel Pennington (15-8) and Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1, 1 NC) battling it out for the vacant women’s bantamweight belt.

The latter, who had her last fight (a submission win over Holly Holm) overturned to a No Contest after testing positive for ritalinic acid, believes Pennington (who has racked up five straight wins) will be easy prey.

“Do you remember Raquel fought with Amanda [Nunes], Raquel said, ‘Alright, I’m done. I don’t want to fight anymore.’ Do you remember?” Silva noted.

“For this reason, she doesn’t want to fight. She doesn’t like to fight. She wants to hold [during] the fight because she doesn’t like fighting. Remember, when she was done, ‘I don’t want no more.’

“In the first round, when I punch her hard, she’ll talk again: ‘I don’t want to fight anymore.’”

The rest of the main card features a welterweight clash between Neil Magny and Mike Malott; a middleweight bout pitting Chris Curtis against Marc-Andre Barriault; and a featherweight opener in which Arnold Allen faces Movsar Evloev.

UFC 297 – MAIN CARD

- Main event: Middleweight championship: Sean Strickland v Dricus du Plessis

- Co-main: Women’s bantamweight championship: Raquel Pennington v Mayra Bueno Silva

- Welterweight: Neil Magny v Mike Malott

- Middleweight: Chris Curtis v Marc-Andre Barriault

- Featherweight: Arnold Allen v Movsar Evloev