The world’s leading MMA promotion opens the 2024 year with a cracking UFC 297 card as newly minted middleweight champion Sean Strickland puts his title on the line for the first time against South African challenger Dricus Du Plessis.
Main Event
Sean Strickland 9/10 | Dricus du Plessis 9/10
(Middleweight Championship)
The main event for UFC 297 features a middleweight title fight without Israel Adesanya. After shocking the world last September in Sydney, Sean Strickland puts his middleweight title on the line for the first time against South African challenger Dricus Du Plessis.
In just his fourth year in the UFC, du Plessis (20-2) is set to become the first South African UFC champion. Four fights and three finishes in 12 months, with only Brad Tavares just about making it to a decision.
Du Plessis’s UFC record is 6-0 and has established himself as the No. 1 contender in the 185-pound weight class, which set the stage for a showdown with Israel Adesanya.
However, when the title fight was to be announced, Du Plessis was unable to compete, still recovering from an injury sustained in his UFC 290 destruction of the former division champion Robert Whittaker.
Sean Strickland (28-5) was tabbed to face Adesanya in place of his now competitor and ventured to Sydney, where he shocked the MMA world by taking the fight to Adesanya, dropping him in the first round and maintaining the endless onslaught to secure a decision win, claiming the middleweight strap in the process.
Strickland collected three wins in 2023, but undoubtedly none bigger than his UFC 293 win over Adesanya, and what makes the performance so impressive is that it wasn’t a “close call” or “the champ just got caught” situation.
Verdict: Dricus du Plessis Win 9/10
Both Strickland and Du Plessis are unique in terms of how they move and attack inside the Octagon — the champ works behind a “Philly shell” defensive posture with constant forward pressure and high-volume output; while the challenger wields a pulsating stop-start style from blistering attacks to an almost tired looking defence, but never stops coming forward with unwavering power. My money is on du Plessis to get the job done.
Top Treble for UFC 297:
Du Plessis Win 9/10
Allen Win 15/10
Patterson Win 23/20
Treble to win at 9/1
Full card predictions
Main Card: 05:00 CAT, Sunday 21 December
- Middleweight (C) Sean Strickland (9/10) vs Dricus du Plessis (9/10): du Plessis
- Bantamweight (W) Raquel Pennington (13/10) vs Mayra Bueno Silva (11/10): Silva
- Welterweight Neil Magny (26/10) vs Mike Malott (1/4): Mallot
- Middleweight Chris Curtis (49/100) vs Marc-André Barriault (14/10): Curtis
- Featherweight Arnold Allen (15/10) vs Movsar Evloev (47/100): Allen
Prelims: 03:00 CAT, Sunday 21 December
- Bantamweight Brad Katona (46/100) vs Garrett Armfield (31/20): Katona
- Featherweight Charles Jourdain (44/100) vs Sean Woodson (16/10): Jourdain
- Bantamweight Serhiy Sidey (51/100) vs Ramon Taveras (27/20): Sidey
- Strawweight (W) Gillian Robertson (31/100) vs Polyana Viana (43/20): Robertson
Early Prelims: 01:30 CAT, Sunday 21 December
- Welterweight Yohan Lainesse (63/100) vs Sam Patterson (23/20): Patterson
- Flyweight (W) Jasmine Jasudavicius (23/100) vs Priscila Cachoeira (11/4): Jasudavicius
- Flyweight Malcolm Gordon (44/100) vs Jimmy Flick (16/10): Gordon
