| UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | January 20, 2024 (2024-01-20) | |||
| Venue | Scotiabank Arena | |||
| City | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |||
| Attendance | 18,559[1] | |||
| Total gate | $7,898,695[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 20, 2024, atScotiabank Arena inToronto, Ontario, Canada.[2]
The event marked the promotion's seventh visit to Toronto and first sinceUFC 231 in December 2018.[2]
AUFC Middleweight Championship bout between current championSean Strickland and formerKSW Welterweight ChampionDricus du Plessis headlined the event.[3]
AUFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout for the vacant title between former title challengerRaquel Pennington andMayra Bueno Silva took place at the event.[4] The title was vacated when former championAmanda Nunes announced her retirement immediately after defending her title atUFC 289.[5]
AUFC Featherweight Championship bout between current championAlexander Volkanovski andIlia Topuria was expected to take place at this event.[6] However, Volkanovski was instead pulled to faceIslam Makhachev for theUFC Lightweight Championship atUFC 294.[7] As a result, this fight was pushed back one month to headlineUFC 298.[8]
A light heavyweight rematch between formerKSW andUFC Light Heavyweight ChampionJan Błachowicz andAleksandar Rakić was expected to take place at the event.[9] The pairing previously met atUFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić where Blachowicz won the fight after Rakić was rendered unable to continue due to a knee injury.[10] However, Błachowicz withdrew due to a shoulder injury and the bout was scrapped.[11]
A light heavyweight bout between former title challengerDominick Reyes andCarlos Ulberg was scheduled for this event.[12] However, in late December 2023, it was announced that match was off due to an injury sustained by Ulberg.[13] They were rescheduled forUFC Fight Night: Brady vs. Luque two months later.[14]
At the weigh-ins, Ramon Taveras andMalcolm Gordon missed weight. Taveras weighed in at 139.75 pounds, three and three quarters pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Gordon weighed in at 127.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit. Both bouts proceeded at catchweight with Taveras forfeiting 30% and Gordon 20% of their purses, which went to their opponents Serhiy Sidey and Jimmy Flick respectively.[15]
Prior to the event, UFC presidentDana White announced that the event had set new records for the highest grossing arena gate in UFC history and Canada.[16]
During the event's broadcast, formerUFC Lightweight ChampionFrankie Edgar was announced as the next "modern wing"UFC Hall of Fame inductee during June's International Fight Week festivities in Las Vegas.[17]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Dricus du Plessis | def. | Sean Strickland (c) | Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Women's Bantamweight | Raquel Pennington | def. | Mayra Bueno Silva | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Welterweight | Neil Magny | def. | Mike Malott | TKO (punches) | 3 | 4:45 | |
| Middleweight | Chris Curtis | def. | Marc-André Barriault | Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Movsar Evloev | def. | Arnold Allen | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Garrett Armfield | def. | Brad Katona | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Sean Woodson | def. | Charles Jourdain | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (139.75 lb) | Ramon Taveras | def. | Serhiy Sidey | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Gillian Robertson | def. | Polyana Viana | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:12 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Sam Patterson | def. | Yohan Lainesse | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:03 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Jasmine Jasudavicius | def. | Priscila Cachoeira | Submission (anaconda choke) | 3 | 4:21 | |
| Catchweight (127.5 lb) | Jimmy Flick | def. | Malcolm Gordon | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 1:17 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[19]
