"Some would arrest Al Pacino for killing ppl" - Ex-UFC title challenger speaks about record gate for UFC 297

A former UFC title contender has recently offered enigmatic insights regarding the sold-out gate for UFC 297.

The first pay-per-view (PPV) event of 2024 is scheduled to go down tonight (Saturday, Jan. 20) at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.

The main event will see Sean Strickland defending his UFC middleweight championship against Dricus du Plessis. Meanwhile, Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva are scheduled to compete for the vacant bantamweight title in the co-main event.

Former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen recently took to X and seemed to draw a comparison between UFC 297's sold-out gate and the epic crime drama, Scarface:

"Record gate. Ya either get it or ya don’t. Some would arrest Al Pacino for killing ppl with machetes and selling cocaine. Others will realize they just watched SCARFACE."

Check out Chael Sonnen's tweet below:

The PPV event marked a new financial milestone for the MMA promotion in terms of Canadian fight cards, surpassing the previous record for the highest announced gate at the Scotiabank Arena.

According to UFC CEO Dana White, UFC 297 achieved a sell-out with 18,100 tickets, resulting in a record gate of $7.6 million. In contrast, the previous event at the same arena, UFC 231 in December 2018, had an attendance of 19,039 and a gate of $2.482 million.

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Chael Sonnen predicts UFC 297 main event victor

Chael Sonnen offered his predictions for the highly anticipated UFC 297 main event featuring Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis.

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen acknowledged the South African native as a strong contender. However, he underscored that should the bout extend beyond the first round, the UFC middleweight champion could retain his title:

"He's [Dricus du Plessis] a fantastic fighter. I just don't think he's Sean Strickland... Who is a better fighter. That's three to five minutes. That, for sure, will be over in the first round. It's the whole game and the whole battle of who's the better fighter for about the first three minutes that matter.

"And, for sure, by five minutes, we're done. You see a second round; you're now in the tough guy business. You see a third and fourth round; you're now in the extreme tough guy business. Two tough guys, I'm taking Sean Strickland."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (4:22):