Controversy? UFC 297: Sean Strickland loses title to Dricus Du Plessis in split decision - Results and play-by-play (2024)

UFC 297 will feature middleweight champion Sean Strickland making the first defense of his belt against South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis in the headliner. The two have been engaged in an acrimonious feud (or is it?) for several weeks, even brawling in the stands at UFC 296. Now, with just hours to go before fight time, it’s anybody’s guess which man will end up with that hunk of gold around their waist.

Preview

Sean Strickland arrived at his champion status via one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. He wasn’t able to finish the “Last Stylebender” but he did manage to put an epic beating on him, the kind that changes a man’s confidence and makes them think twice about ever being within shouting distance of their newly minted nightmare. With that finish coming so soon after the one Alex Pereira handed him, it came as no surprise when Israel Adesanya announced that it would be “a long time” before he came back to UFC action.

Since defeating Adesanya, Strickland has been on a lightning rod’s journey, seemingly on every influencer’s social media timeline, doing interviews here, there and everywhere, fighting in stands, and sending death threats along the way. Has he even had time to train amid his obsession with saying every dumb, incendiary, hateful piece of rhetoric he knows? That’s the $64,000 question.

Dricus Du Plessis hasn’t exactly been innocent in all of this, either. It was his choice to go for the throat when he told Sean that he would beat him so bad that it would evoke memories of his long-deceased abusive father, that he would beat Sean worse than his father had. It’s a step down into the muck and mire that resulted in a brief, physically violent exchange between them last month.

While Du Plessis has made the media rounds, he’s been much more low key than Sean. If I were to pick the one that seems more focused on the task at hand, I’d have to go with Dricus. Strickland’s emotional meter tends to run close to boiling at all times, whether that be performative or genuine. How many times have we seen the loser of a fight say they went into the fight with the wrong mindset, or they let their emotions get the best of them? Tonight we’ll find out which man was better prepared.

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis live play-by-play

Round 1

Stricland with a quick left jab to start the action that falls short. Dricus with a low kick that misses. Strickland with a good body kick. Good jab to follow it. Left jab again finds its mark by Strickland. Dricus starting to throw over the tp now and is landing. Dricus spun around but didn’t throw the backfist. Looks like he stooped too close and thought better of it. Nasty high kick by Dricus lands. Another high kick by Dricus finds its mark.

Dricus bleeding from the nose from all Strickland’s jabs. Strickland checks another low kick. Strickland lands a nice straight and Dricus missed with his overhand right. Dricus gets the double leg and dumps Sean on his butt. Nice body kick sneaks through for Dricus. A welt is forming under the right eye of Dricus.

Dricus lands two more of those body kicks to Sean’s ribs. Big right hand lands for Strickland but only on the shoulder and Dricus flurries behind it as the horn sounds.

Round 2

Sean starts pumping the jab and Dricus goes for the low kick. Sean working the jab and checks a low kick as Dricus sneaks in a nice left. Dricus with a left hook that lands. Sean with a low kick that gets answered by Dricus. Dricus with a right over the shoulder that partially lands.

Sean’s jab is really nice and he’s working it constantly. Nice pair of low kicks by Dricus gets through, but Sean manages to check one of them. Du Plessis is winging overhands but whiffing because Sean is quick to lean out of the way. Strickland checks a hard low kick with his back leg. Nice.

Sean like a surgeon with that jab. Dricus lands a nice right up top. His overhand is getting closer to being dangerous for Sean. Dricus goes for the takedown, got the high crotch and dumped him. Nice left hook from Dricus as Sean was getting to his feet. Nice left lands for Dricus. Sean is doing nice work because Dricus’ left eye is now showing damage. Round over.

Round 3

Sean has a cut over his right eye. Dricus’ left eye is nearly swollen shut. Sean starts with that jab and Dricus nails him with a high kick. Overhand left by Dricus is blocked. Strickland routinely splitting Dricus’ guard. Left straight by Dricus gets through.

Sean with a gorgeous one-two through the guard. Dricus looks like he had a fight with a beehive right now. Low kick by Dricus. No check by Sean this time. Sean with the jab again but he’s throwing singles now. Dricus misses with the overhand right.

Sean with the double left jab. Dricus with a left overhand but it doesn’t do much.Dricus keeping his face covered but Sean finding a way through. Dricus nails Sean with a straight left then s tries a little flurry. Dricus getting through with his jab now. Sean tries a teep and Dricus was quick to throw a right hook to answer. Nice left hook by Sean as the round ends.

Round 4

Strickland gets the action going with a hard right jab down the pipe. Dricus lands a good right of his own. Huge overhand for Dricus. Strickland bleeding from an elbow by Dricus. Strickland with a little combo that ended with a big right. Good body kick by Strickland. Big right hook by Strickland lands.

Dricus with an overhand right that gets through. Strickland’s cut looks high on his head but running down his face near his left eye. Dricus with another big right hand and Strickland is also bleeding from the left eye. Dricus with a big double leg that puts Sean on his butt.

Dricus with another big right. Dricus is blitzing now and that right is landing frequently. Dricus takes him down again. Sean struggling to get up as Dricus hangs on and is working to drag him back down. And he does. Strickland gets back to his feet. Du Plessis has 6 takedowns on 9 attempts so far.

Low kick by Dricus gets checked. Huge left hook whiffs for Dricus. Good one-two by Sean. Little flurry by Dricus as the horn sounds. One round to go.

Round 5

Dricus starts off with a jab which is answered in kind by Strickland. Sean goes for a right and Dricus responds with a three punch combo. Nice uppercut by Dricus. Dricus with a left to the chest is answered by a big right hand. Low kick by Dricus. Sean goes for a big right that partially lands. Dricus is winging and whiffing while Sean is trying to surgically snipe Dricus.

Dricus goes for another takedown but gets stuffed. Dricus gets through with a left and is answered with two big rights from Strickland. Dricus with a sneaky uppercut. Dricus with a right, Sean with a right. Tit for tat. Strickland’s last three left jabs have landed square on Dricus’ mouth. Dricus with a low kick. They’re backing to trading jabs again. Right lands for DDP and a big right for Sean. They’re going for broke in the last 20 seconds. That was a solid fight. Not great, but solid. Would watch a second time but not a third.

Official Decision

Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (48-47×2,47-48)

UFC 297 Quick Results

Main card

• – Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (48-47×2,47-48)
• – Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision (49-46×2, 49-45)
• – Neil Magny def. Mike Malott by TKO at 4:45 of round 3: Welterweight
• – Chris Curtis def. Marc-André Barriault by split decision (30-27 x2, 28-29 ): Middleweight
• – Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Featherweight

Prelims

• – Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Bantamweight
• – Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Featherweight
• – Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Bantamweight
• – Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana by TKO at 3:12 of round 2: Strawweight
• – Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse by submission (RNC) at 2:03 of round 1: Welterweight
• – Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira by submission (D’arce) at 4:21 of round 3: (W) Flyweight
• – Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon by submission (Arm Triangle) at 1:17 of round 2: Flyweight

Start date and time

UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis takes place on January 20th, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main card starts at 10 p.m. ET. The early preliminary card begins at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the regular prelims kicking off at 8 p.m. ET.

Live streams

UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis is available on ESPN+ PPV for $79.99 for current subscribers. New subscribers can pay $124.98 for the UFC 291 pay-per-view and an ESPN+ annual subscription. The event is scheduled to start live at 10:00am ET, 7:00am PT, with the prelims on the ESPN+ streaming platform in the US, as well as Fight Pass. The PPV main card is to kick off at 2:00pm ET, 11:00am PT. For full streaming details, and compatible devices go here.

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