5 best moments from UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis

The first UFC pay-per-view of 2024 went down in Toronto last night, and in the end, it was a very mixed bag when it came to entertainment.

UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis saw two new champions crowned, but only one bout on a largely disappointing main card ended with a finish.

Despite this, there will be several talking points that fans will be discussing for the next few weeks at least.

Here are the five best moments from UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis.

---

#5. Frankie Edgar is announced as the UFC’s latest Hall of Famer

While the entertainment levels inside the octagon were slightly lacking at last night’s event, one of the best moments of the night came when the UFC’s latest Hall of Fame entry was announced.

The fighter entering the hall’s modern wing this year is former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, and it’d be hard to claim that the New Jersey native doesn’t deserve it.

Sure, ‘The Answer’ ended his career in the octagon on a damp squib, losing his last three fights via knockout, but he was a true great in his prime.

Despite being a natural 135-pound fighter, Edgar famously downed the seemingly unbeatable BJ Penn to claim lightweight gold in 2010 and then defended his crown successfully on three occasions.

He put on absolute thrillers with the likes of Gray Maynard, Tyson Griffin, Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo, and claimed wins over four UFC titleholders (Penn, Sean Sherk, Charles Oliveira and Yair Rodriguez) as well as a victory over fellow Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.

Edgar wasn’t the biggest star that the lightweight division produced, both from a physical standpoint and from a drawing perspective too. In terms of his accomplishments, though, there have been a few better, and so it was nice to see him given his due last night.

---

#4. The UFC bantamweight division finally moves on from Amanda Nunes

Sure, the title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva was putrid to watch, ending in a unanimous decision for ‘Rocky’, but it was still slightly refreshing to see the women’s bantamweight division given a bit of a reset last night.

Since 2016, the division had been dominated by one woman – Amanda Nunes – who held the title with an iron fist, only ever losing it to Julianna Pena, who she swiftly defeated in a rematch anyway.

Nunes will go down as one of the all-time greats, but the dominance of ‘The Lioness’ meant that the bantamweight division largely dried up and became somewhat stale overall.

Sure, there’s still a lack of talent out there at 135 pounds, but despite her win last night, Pennington feels much more vulnerable than Nunes ever did, which means title fights in the division will now have more jeopardy.

Who is next for ‘Rocky’ remains to be seen, but while the new champ will hope to be as dominant as Nunes was, whether she’s capable of it is doubtful.

With any luck, some fresh blood will begin to climb the ladder at 135 pounds in 2024, and with a new queen at the helm, the division should, theoretically at least, be able to move forward.

---

#3. Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen provide entertainment and controversy at 145 pounds

While they didn’t receive the ‘Fight of the Night’ award, it’s arguable that from a technical standpoint, the best fight on offer last night was Movsar Evloev’s featherweight tilt with Arnold Allen.

The two highly-rated competitors fought a close bout over three rounds, ending with Evloev claiming a unanimous decision to keep his unbeaten record intact at 18-0.

Whether the Russian did enough to win is a little debatable, but the threat of his takedown seemed to keep Allen’s striking at bay. Evloev even landed a couple of heavy shots of his own, stunning Allen with a stiff jab in the second round and opening up a nasty cut.

The real controversy, though, came in the third round. Catching Evloev in a front headlock, Allen appeared to land a series of legal knees to the head by lifting the Russian’s hand off the mat. The referee, though, saw otherwise, and issued a warning to the UK native.

After surviving a close ninja choke attempt, then, Evloev was able to do just enough to get his hand raised. Given that Allen had only ever lost to Max Holloway in the octagon before, it’s safe to say that this was a huge win for Evloev.

Likely, he’ll now leap above Allen in the rankings, which could move him as high as No.4. With the featherweight title on the line next month when Alexander Volkanovski defends against Ilia Topuria, there’s every chance the Russian could get the next shot. With eight straight wins in the UFC, he probably deserves it.

---

#2. Neil Magny produces a stirring comeback to take out Mike Malott

The lone finish on UFC 297’s main card was produced by welterweight gatekeeper Neil Magny, and what a finish it was.

‘The Haitian Sensation’ was not only faced with a hot prospect in Mike Malott, who had won his first three octagon bouts, but he was also faced with a hostile crowd too thanks to ‘Proper Mike’ being an Ontario native.

Early on, it looked like Magny, who has long been considered the best gatekeeper to the elite in the UFC at 170 pounds, was on his way to a loser.

Malott dominated the first two rounds, stinging his foe with low kicks and punches, and clearly outgrappled him too, taking him down and advancing to a dominant position on more than one occasion.

In the third round, though, with ‘Proper Mike’ seemingly coasting to a decision win, Magny turned the tables.

After avoiding a guillotine choke and securing his own takedown, ‘The Haitian Sensation’ found himself in a dominant spot with Malott suddenly looking exhausted.

From there, Magny opened up with a series of brutal punches, causing the Canadian to turn his back and eventually succumb to a TKO. The fight ended with just fifteen seconds to go.

In the end, Magny proved that while he’ll never be a title contender, he remains almost impossible to beat for any fighter who isn’t a true elite welterweight. With a decade of action under his belt, he remains a fixture of the division and probably deserved a bonus of $50k for his work last night too.

---

#1. Dricus du Plessis outpoints Sean Strickland to become the new UFC middleweight champion

While nobody could describe last night’s headline bout as a technical classic, the UFC middleweight title clash between champ Sean Strickland and challenger Dricus du Plessis was definitely entertaining.

In the end, after five relatively close rounds, it was ‘Stillknocks’ who earned the victory by split decision. The win makes him the latest UFC titleholder to hail from Africa, and it extended his overall octagon record to 7-0, too.

Overall, it felt like while Strickland arguably landed the better strikes across the fight from a technical point of view – mainly using his jab – du Plessis’ bigger shots were the ones that made the difference.

Sure, his haymakers didn’t always land, and ‘Tarzan’ never hit the ground at any point, but the South African’s forward gameplan meant that Strickland never got comfortable. He simply couldn’t use his usual pressuring game, and it meant that he just didn’t really get a chance to shine.

Whether du Plessis can hold onto the title for long remains debatable. He’s clearly a great athlete and he showed last night that his cardio isn’t as big an issue as some suspected it would be, but whether he’s got the technique to fend off someone like Israel Adesanya remains to be seen.

However, if ‘The Last Stylebender’ sticks to his word and takes some time off, ‘Stillknocks’ would probably be favored to beat other contenders like Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori. A lengthy reign as champion, then, is definitely possible.

Overall, given that the controversial Strickland was a potential PR nightmare for the UFC, the promotion was probably happy with this result, too. It might not have come via the knockout he wanted, but du Plessis’ title win was definitely the best moment of last night’s event.