Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou face off before Saudi Arabia bout
Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis will clash for the UFC middleweight title tonight, with the vacant women’s bantamweight belt also on the line in Toronto.
Strickland won the middleweight title with a seismic upset of Israel Adesanya in September, and now the controversial American makes his first defence of the belt. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Du Plessis enters the main event on the back of a surprise TKO of ex-champion Robert Whittaker in July.
Strickland and Du Plessis have fought each other before, in a sense, having brawled in the crowd at UFC 296 in December, and fans are expecting a scrappy contest this evening.
In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington will fight Mayra Bueno Silva to crown a new women’s bantamweight champion, seven months after the icon Amanda Nunes retired and relinquished the belt.
Follow live updates and results from UFC 297 below.
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
Strickland had some pretty choice words for women’s MMA and the LGBTQ community this week.
Here’s what the controversial American had to say:
Alex Pattle21 January 2024 01:14
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
The odds for tonight’s main event…
Alex Pattle21 January 2024 00:53
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
Here’s tonight’s card in full (subject to any very late changes!):
Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva (vacant women’s bantamweight title)
Neil Magny vs Mike Malott (welterweight)
Chris Curtis vs Marc-Andre Barriault (middleweight)
Arnold Allen vs Movsar Evloev (featherweight)
Brad Katona vs Garrett Armfield (bantamweight)
Charles Jourdain vs Sean Woodson (featherweight)
Serhiy Sidey vs Ramon Taveras* (bantamweight) *Taveras missed weight at 139.7lbs
Gillian Robertson vs Polyana Viana (women’s strawweight)
Yohan Lainesse vs Sam Patterson (welterweight)
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Priscila Cachoeira (women’s bantamweight)
Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon via second-round submission (head-arm triangle, 1:17)
Alex Pattle21 January 2024 00:30
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
UFC 297 is taking place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. The early prelims just got going at 11.30pm GMT (4.30pm PT, 6.30pm CT, 7.30pm ET), with the regular prelims due to follow at 1am GMT on Sunday 21 January (6pm PT, 8pm CT, 9pm ET on Saturday).
The main card will then begin at 3am GMT on Sunday (8pm PT, 10pm CT, 11pm ET on Saturday), and that’s when our fight updates will start!
Alex Pattle21 January 2024 00:10
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
UFC 297 is airing live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.
Alex Pattle20 January 2024 23:50
UFC 297 LIVE: Strickland vs Du Plessis
In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington will fight Mayra Bueno Silva to crown a new women’s bantamweight champion, seven months after the icon Amanda Nunes retired and relinquished the belt.
Sean Strickland (left) and UFC middleweight title challenger Dricus Du Plessis
(AP)
Alex Pattle20 January 2024 23:33
