"UFC hates Canadians" - MMA fans voice frustration over underwhelming Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva bout potentially headlining UFC 297

UFC 297 is scheduled to be the promotion's first pay-per-view in 2024 and signals the return of pay-per-views to Toronto. A featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria was rumored to be the original headliner. That, however, is now in doubt in light of the Australian's recent loss.

Alexander Volkanovski faced Islam Makhachev in a rematch of their encounter earlier in the year. But the result was a devastating first-round knockout that could prevent Volkanovski from getting the medical clearance to be eligible to fight in January next year. So exactly what will happen remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the promotion recently announced a Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva fight for the vacant women's bantamweight title at UFC 297. While the bout will fill the divisional vacuum left by Amanda Nunes' retirement, fans are dreading the possibility of it being the event headliner, instead of the co-headliner.

This drew a loud response from the MMA fandom on X/Twitter, with one fan claiming that the promotion hates its Canadian fans:

"UFC genuinely hate us"

This was echoed by another fan, who shared similar sentiments:

"Fr I’m starting to think UFC hates Canadians"

Some fans, however, are still holding out hope that the Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva title fight is merely the co-main event:

"It’s not the main event tf you talking about, main is gonna be Volk or Max vs Topuria"

Another fan, however, lamented the perceived state of women's MMA and even called for the shocking closure of the promotion's women's divisions:

"Ronda is long gone and nunes is now retired. Can we disband women's divisions already"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reaction

---

An alternate UFC 297 main event

After the promotion announced Alexander Volkanovski as the short-notice replacement for Charles Oliveira against Islam Makhachev, fans wondered what would become of Ilia Topuria's then certain featherweight title fight with the Australian great, which was expected to headline the promotion's return to Toronto.

However, certain reports emerged about a possible interim featherweight title bout between 'El Matador' and Max Holloway being in the mix. While nothing has been confirmed, it could serve as an alternate main event.