Dricus du Plessis is the new UFC middleweight champion after defeating Sean Strickland by split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48) in an unforgettable title fight.
It was an historic night for du Plessis, who became the first ever South African-born UFC champion.
On a lesser note, he also silenced his sceptics who believed a longer fight would favour Strickland given du Plessis had previously not gone beyond four rounds prior to Sunday.
UFC 297: STRICKLAND VS DU PLESSIS | SUN 21st JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the new exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View events!
Du Plessis wants Izzy after winning belt | 03:33
With the South African flag draped around his shoulders, du Plessis called out those “doubters” who didn’t think he’d be able to go the distance.
“How’s that for rounds 4 and 5. Who says this guy’s not a five round fighter,” du Plessis said.
He also praised his opponent, indicating the mutual respect the two share.
“You are one hell of a man. Thank you for bringing the best out of me. Thank you for being a good guy,” he said.
While a rematch is likely on the cards, du Plessis called out bitter rival and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who has taken an extended break from the sport.
“Israel Adesanya, get your ass back in the UFC so we can settle the score,” he said.
Strickland believes he won the fight, but credited du Plessis for giving him a “f***ing war”.
“I called it from day one, that it was going to be a f***ing war,” Strickland said post-fight.
“It was a f***ing war. I’m salty, I think I won that, but maybe I’m being a f***ing pussy.”
Canadian rapper Drake may be salty too in that case. He put a $700,000 bet on Strickland winning the main event, with the American becoming the latest victim of the ‘Drake Curse’.
Strickland was able to land numerous jabs in the first round, but du Plessis responded with a couple of takedowns. The last thing the judges saw in the first round though was the massive right hand Strickland landed.
Despite ending Round 2 with noticeable swelling on both eyes, it was a much better round for the South African, who had plenty of success attempting takedowns of Strickland before landing a double jab on the American.
Du Plessis started Round 3 on the front foot, constantly advancing and throwing plenty at his opponent including leg kicks. That left himself open to counters from Strickland, who was accurate with his jabs.
Strickland and du Plessis exchanged powerful blows to begin the fourth round before a brutal right hand from the South African drew claret from the American’s head.
Du Plessis attempted and was successful in another takedown soon after and by the end of Round 4, the challenger had converted six of nine takedown attempts.
“Nobody has really taken down and controlled Strickland like this,” Dominick Cruz said in commentary.
It was an up and down battle in the final round with both fighters connecting with wild swings, especially in the dying minutes.
‘IT FEELS SURREAL’: PENNINGTON GETS LONG-AWAITED TITLE
In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington claimed the vacant women’s bantamweight title with a unanimous decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva.
The judges scored the fight 49-46 x2 and 49-45 with Pennington recording her sixth straight win and clearly the most important victory of her career.
“It feels surreal… first of all I want to say thank you for this opportunity. It truly means everything. It’s been a long five years to get back to this,” Pennington said post-fight.
Bueno Silva asserted herself early on, gaining control in the first round through calf kicks which had her opponent stepping back towards the fence. The Brazilian had two takedowns of Pennington but couldn’t get a submission.
Pennington put in a dominant second round, landing some big shots to the head of her opponent.
The Brazilian started to tire noticeably towards the end of the third round, and Pennington took advantage, gaining ground control while landing some body shots.
“I don’t care if Bueno Silva won the first two rounds, this is trending in the wrong direction,” Daniel Cormier said in commentary.
“She is exhausted.”
Pennington picked up in Round 4 where she left off in the previous, and had a continually tiring Bueno Silva on the floor for most of it.
Bueno Silva did attempt a couple of choke outs but Pennington was able to overcome them before connecting with a couple of late shots to her opponents head.
“Bueno Silva was unable to walk back after that round,” Cormier said.
If the result was in doubt entering the final round, it soon wasn’t with Pennington quickly gaining the upperhand with a submission attempt which almost saw her opponent tap out.
Pennington dominated the final round, which ended with the American kicking Bueno Silva, who offered nothing in return.
“About the worst visual you can ask for,” Jon Anik said in commentary as Bueno Silva remained on her back for the final 20 seconds of the fight.
FULL UFC 297 WRAP: A CONFUSING CELEBRATION AND EPIC COMEBACK
There was plenty of confusion at UFC 297 on Sunday, with Charles Jourdain celebrating victory after Sean Woodson was announced the winner of the pair’s featherweight fight.
Veteran announcer Bruce Buffer declared Woodson the winner via split decision, although the crowd seemed to think he said Charles instead of Sean, cheering loudly as the Canadian raised his hands in the air.
Although it was then quickly clarified that his American rival was in fact the winner, although even Woodson didn’t realise at first, seemingly thinking he had lost too based on Jourdain’s reaction.
“How weird is that to think that you lost. You were walking away and then you turned around,” Daniel Cormier said to Woodson in the octagon.
“I heard him announce it as split so I knew it was tight,” replied Woodson.
“I didn’t even hear who they announced I just saw Charles’ corner celebrating so I assumed he won. It was a close fight. I wouldn’t have been calling a robbery or anything like that but I felt like I did enough to win, I could see it going either way.”
Wait… Whose name was called out?! | 00:43
Elsewhere, undefeated russian Movsar Evloev improved to a 18-0 record as he took care of Arnold Allen in a clinical unanimous decision win.
Allen defended constant takedown attempts from Evloev well for the most part but the Russian had a dominant second round, where he cut the 29-year-old open with a brutal jab.
Evloev proved yet again just how versatile a fighter he can be, pairing his grappling prowess with sharp striking on the way to a win over the featherweight division’s No.4 ranked contender.
Speaking after the fight Evloev said he was “ready for the winner” of the upcoming title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.
Chris Curtis then took care of Marc-Andre Barriault in a split decision victory before Neil Magny turned the tables on Mike Malott in a stunning comeback victory.
Malott had dominated the first two rounds, crushing the American with consistent leg kicks and successfully getting three takedowns to put himself in a dominant position.
But the veteran weathered the storm and then suddenly flipped the script, scoring a pair of late takedowns and capitalising on the final one as he unloaded on Malott with a brutal ground-and-pound.
Malott had no answer and the referee eventually stepped in, sealing the stunning comeback for Magny.
Earlier, the card kicked off in emphatic fashion as Jimmy Flick scored a second-round submission victory despite being outlanded 74 to seven overall.
Flick, who had been stopped in his last two fights before Sunday, had four submission attempts before finally finishing hometown hero Malcolm Gordon with an arm triangle.
Flick played up to the crowd after getting the result too, welcoming the chorus of boos.
Having been outlanded 37 to 3 in significant strikes, it represented the largest statistical comeback finish in UFC flyweight history.
It was two submissions from just as many fights to open the card after Jasmine Jasudavicius got her first UFC finish in a dominant win over Priscila Cachoeira that left her rival covered in blood.
Jasudavicius landed 138 of 173 strikes and 32 of 43 compared to just four significant strikes and five in total for Cachoeira, who eventually tapped but could have done with her corner throwing in the towel far sooner given the beating she received.
The Canadian said after the fight that it was revenge after Cachoeira failed to come close to the 125 pounds that the pair were supposed to be facing off at.
It meant that the contracted flyweight bout became a last-minute bantamweight fight, with Jasudavicius’s camp agreeing to take the Brazilian on at 135 pounds instead.
Jasudavicius dominated from the start with her superior grappling and looked on track for a unanimous decision victory before getting the choke late in the third round.
The early prelims then finished with a third submission as Sam Patterson impressed in his first fight since being knocked out by Yanal Ashmouz in his UFC debut last March.
Patterson made light work of Yohan Lainesse to secure the first-round submission.
Moving onto the preliminary card, the finishes kept coming as Canadian Gillian Robertson scored her second career TKO, this time forcing the referee to step in after a brutal ground-and-pound while on the back of Polyana Viana.
It came after a grappling masterclass from Robertson in the opening round and while she wasn’t able to get the finish she did maintain ground control to wear down Viana, setting herself up for the finish in the second.
It saw Robertson join Jessica Andrade with nine career finishes, only sitting behind the recently retired GOAT Amanda Nunes (10) for the most in UFC women’s history.
Speaking after her latest win, Robertson said she “needs to see a ranked opponent” next.
Later, Ramon Taveras outlasted Serhiy Sidey in a bloody war that went the distance, with the American claiming a split decision win (29-28 x2, 28-29) in his UFC debut.
Taveras vowed after the fight to employ a nutritionist to help him after he missed the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds by 3.3 pounds ahead of his ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ rematch against Sidey.
Taveras dropped Sidey at the end of the first round but both fighters had their moments where they looked on the verge of getting the finish in what was an early fight of the night contender.
“I dropped him at the end of the first. I committed more damage,” Taveras said when asked if he believes he won.
“He swung a lot, he pressured me but he also missed a lot and I connected more.”
Garrett Armfield closed the preliminary card out with a dominant striking display on his way to a unanimous decision victory over Brad Katona.
FULL UFC 297 CARD RESULTS
Main card (from 2pm)
Dricus du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via split decision – middleweight
Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision – women’s bantamweight
Neil Magny def. Mike Malott via third-round TKO – welterweight
Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via split decision – middleweight
Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision – featherweight
Prelims (from 12pm)
Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision – bantamweight
Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain via split decision – featherweight
Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey via split decision – bantamweight
Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana via second-round TKO – women’s strawweight
Early prelims (from 10:30am)
Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse via first-round submission – welterweight
Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira via third-round submission – women flyweight
Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon via second-round submission – flyweight