UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis: Full results
UFC 297 is in the books and it saw the crowning of two new champions. Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland to win the UFC middleweight title. Meanwhile, Raquel Pennington became the sixth woman to hold the UFC women’s bantamweight title.
The pay-per-view went down at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on Jan. 20, 2024. Let's take a closer look at the results it produced.
In the main event, Sean Strickland attempted the first defense of his middleweight reign against No.2-ranked contender Dricus du Plessis.
The relationship between the two men turned sour after the UFC 2024 Seasonal Press Conference where du Plessis brought up Strickland’s childhood, causing 'Tarzan' to react furiously. The subsequent physical altercation at UFC 296 fueled fan interest in the fight.
However, the two men did not allow the shadow of their emotion-packed rivalry to affect their performances. Strickland took a more measured approach and evaded du Plessis's power shots, accumulating damage on the South African's face.
Du Plessis maintained composure and continued a sustained assault, attacking Strickland's head, body, and legs. Meanwhile, Strickland primarily targeted the head.
'Stillknocks' answered a lot of questions about his cardio going into the championship rounds where he did his best work, opening a huge cut near the champion's left eye and winning the majority of the exchanges.
Both men put forth their best effort in Round 5. Du Plessis was declared the winner by split decision and was crowned the new UFC middleweight champion. He became the first South African-born UFC champion and the first title holder who lives and trains in Africa.
In the UFC 297 co-main event, Brazil’s Mayra Bueno Silva fought former title challenger Raquel Pennington for the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight title.
Both women had their moments in the back-and-forth five-round contest. However, Silva appeared exhausted by the midway point of the fight and Pennington took over in the second half.
Pennington finished strong and was crowned the UFC women’s bantamweight champion with a unanimous decision win. She became the sixth woman in UFC history to hold this title. With her crowning, the Amanda Nunes era officially came to an end.
UFC 297 results: Movsar Evloev, Chris Curtis, and Neil Magny win
The main card opening bout between Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev was one of the most consequential fights outside of the main and co-main events at UFC 297.
Allen utilized effective movement to avoid giving a stationary target to a dominant wrestler in Evloev. However, the Russian found success in closing the distance as the fight progressed. His grappling threat also opened up striking opportunities.
'Almighty' fought a great fight but fell short on the judges' scorecards, losing two of the three rounds on all three scorecards. With the biggest win of his career under the belt, Evloev now has the second-longest active winning streak in the UFC featherweight division (seven wins).
Elsewhere, rising welterweight contender Mike Mallot took a major jump in terms of competition and fought veteran fighter Neil Magny. Looking to make a name for himself in the top 15, the Canadian dominated the 36-year-old Magny for the majority of the fight.
However, Magny turned the tables in the closing minutes of the contest and won the bout via TKO. The victory was reminiscent of his come-from-behind win over Hector Lombard in March 2016.
Elsewhere, Chris Curtis and Mark-Andre Barriault were expected to put on an explosive fight with the possibility of a highlight-reel knockout. However, Curtis edged past Barriault to earn a split-decision victory after turning the heat up in Round 3.
Check out the full UFC 297 results below:
Main Card
Dricus du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (48-47 X 2 , 47-48)
Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva via (49-46 X 2 , 49-45)
Neil Magny def. Mike Malott via TKO (R3, 4:45)
Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via split decision (30-27 X 2, 28-29)
Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)
Preliminary Card
Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)
Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain via split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey via split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana via TKO (R2, 3:12)
Early Prelims
Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse via submission (Rear-naked choke) (R1, 2:03)
Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira (Anaconda choke) (R3, 4:21)
Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon via submission (Arm-triangle choke) (R2, 1:17)