“Stuff like that is not okay” - Raquel Pennington shares honest take on Sean Strickland’s “judgemental” comments in lead-up to UFC 297
About UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis [Image via @ufc on X]
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis was an MMA event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that took place on January 20, 2024, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main card for this pay-per-view event commenced at 10 p.m. ET.
The main event of UFC 297 was a middleweight title clash between Sean ‘Tarzan’ Strickland and South Africa’s Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ du Plessis. Du Plessis emerged as the victor of this bout via a close split decision. Both fighters were among the audience at UFC 296 on December 16, 2023, seated within two rows of each other as arranged by Dana White. During an exchange of words, Strickland signaled for spectators to clear out and proceeded to assault Du Plessis. The altercation was swiftly halted, and Strickland was removed from the event with security intervention.
The co-main event is a matchup for the vacant UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship, featuring former title contender Raquel Pennington against Mayra Bueno Silva, where Pennington won by a unanimous decision. The championship became vacant after Amanda Nunes, the former champion, declared her retirement right after successfully defending her title at UFC 289.
The featherweight champ, Alexander Volkanovski, had plans to defend his title against the #5 ranked Ilia Topuria at this event. However, his devastating knockout loss against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 foiled this outcome, and this fight was rescheduled to the main event of UFC 298.
At present, Sean Strickland holds a record of 28 wins and 6 losses (28-6-0), whereas du Plessis has amassed a professional record of 21 wins and 2 losses (21-2-0). This fight was also Strickland’s first title defense fight as the UFC middleweight champion.
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis Main Card
Weight Class
Fight
Method
Round
Result
Middleweight Championship
Sean Strickland (c) vs. Dricus du Plessis
Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47)
R5(5:00)
Dricus du Plessis def. Sean Strickland (c)
Women's Bantamweight Championship
Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–45)
R5(5:00)
Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva
Welterweight
Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
TKO (punches)
R3(4:45)
Neil Magny def. Mike Malott
Middleweight
Chris Curtis vs. Marc-André Barriault
Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 30–27)
R3(5:00)
Chris Curtis def. Marc-André Barriault
Featherweight
Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
R3(5:00)
Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis Preliminary Card
Weight Class
Fight
Method
Round
Result
Bantamweight
Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
R3(5:00)
Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona
Featherweight
Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
R3(5:00)
Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain
Catchweight (139.75 lb)
Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
R3(5:00)
Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey
Women's Strawweight
Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
TKO (punches)
R2(3:12)
Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis Early Preliminary Card
Weight Class
Fight
Method
Round
Result
Welterweight
Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
Submission (rear-naked choke)
R1(2:03)
Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse
Women's Flyweight
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Submission (anaconda choke)
R3(4:21)
Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira
Catchweight (127.5 lb)
Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
Submission (arm-triangle choke)
R2(1:17)
Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon
How to watch UFC 297?
In the US
For fight fans in the US, you can grab your ESPN+ membership at 6.99$ plus an additional $79.99 Pay-per-view (PPV) price to catch UFC 297.
In the UK
For fans of MMA in the United Kingdom, a Sports Extra Month Membership on Now TV, at 34 pounds per month, will allow you to stream UFC 297.
In India
Indian UFC fans can catch UFC 297 live on the Sony Ten channels or subscribe to SonyLiv, with yearly packages at Rs. 999 and monthly packages at Rs. 299, to stream UFC. Additionally, Jio customers can stream UFC 297 live via the JioTV app for free.
Last Updated On January 21, 2024
FAQs
A. UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis took place on January 20, 2024.
A. UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis took place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A. The co-main event for UFC 297 was for the vacant women’s bantamweight championship between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva.
A. The main card for UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis began at 10 p.m. ET.
A. UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis can be streamed live on ESPN+PPV.
![UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis [Image via @ufc on X]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/86470-17053301027972.png)
