Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis - UFC 297: South African makes history as he WINS middleweight title in Toronto after razor thin split decision
By Will Griffee For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
Recap Mail Sport's live blog to see how all the action unfolded at UFC 297.
So much skill, so much grit - the new champ
South Africa has a first UFC champion and a worthy winner in Dricus du Plessis. He looks a horrible man to fight with huge strength, kickboxing ability and now an engine that can handle 25 minutes of a real pace. Will a rematch be on the cards given how close it was or does Israel Adesanya come back into the fold?
Strickland's jab 'felt like a rock'
Du Plessis: Who says this guy is not a five round fighter!? What did I tell you? He has a super strong jab, it feels like someone's hit you with a rock, it's very deceptive, I knew if I pressured I could get through it. I tried to kill you in there and you are one hell of a man Strickland.
Incredible final round!
Both men raise their hands at the culmination of a sensational final round. Strickland came back to have a superb last five minutes and the scorecards will be fascinating. At the end of this one, Strickland was covered in blood, swinging for the fences with the fans on their feet. Amazing stuff and we're about to find out who the middlweight champ is.
Du Plessis is taking charge
Strickland's coach says: 'I need this round'. He's chasing the fight now. Du Plessis is still firing on all cylinders and mixed up his strikes with punches and kicks so well before throwing in a takedown. He comfortably wins the fourth and if he does so again in the fifth, surely he'll be the new champion.
This is so close...
Really tough to call this one, Du Plessis takes it for my money based on output. Strickland isn't throwing as much as the first couple of rounds and the questioned cardio of the challenger seems to be holding up. Du Plessis' coach want a takedown early in the fourth. Into the championship rounds we go.
Du Plessis' eye is swollen
Du Plessis comes right back into the fight, mostly through output and he's throwing four to land one, such is the range control of Strickland. He also lands another takedown but can't make it stick. Du Plessis' left eye is swollen badly and Strickland has a small cut on his face. Fatigue will start to play a real part now.
Enthralling opening round
Strickland looks sharp and tight in his stance to start, checking every kick with brilliant timing. He lands his jab well and Du Plessis looks ragged, albeit landing some heavy kicks to the body. The South African then changes it up to take him down but only briefly as the champ makes his way back to his feet.
We're moments away!
Bruce Buffer is strutting his stuff - new suit for every event and he's gone with a kind of marbled number to go with his hair. Strickland is given the better reception from the crowd, but by no means a deafening backing for the champ. Marc Goddard is the ref and round one is seconds away.
The unexpected title fight
Du Plessis vs Strickland for the middleweight title? Nobody would have predicted that 12 months ago.
Here's a look at this unexpected main event and how we arrived here.
The moment this fight went to another level
Strickland and Du Plessis became the story at UFC 296 after the American piled into him to spark a wild fight after being upset by his rival's comments about his childhood. They've buried the hatchet somewhat this week but there will be some genuine feeling in the cage tonight.
Breaking:29-26, 29-26, 29-25 - AND NEW CHAMP - RAQUEL PENNINGTON
Pennington: 'It feels surreal, Canada what's up! I want to thank Dana for this chance, it has been a long five years getting back to this. I thank my coaches and everyone and home. My beautiful wife and my baby girl. I expected to do a lot more, she was tough, it has been a long five years and I had to climb mountains to get here. I went out there and didn't give up on myself. Julianna get yourself better, it's been ten years I've been waiting for that fight.'
Another in the books for Pennington
Pennington battles back to get out of a tight choke to end the round on top and landing ground and pound. I'd be fairly confident in the judges scoring that one for the Colorado Springs fighter. The commentator says 300 seconds to decide the championship and he's probably right, it'll come down to this.
Pennington rocks Silva!
Pennington comes storming back into the contest with a beautiful combination and her coaches are delighted at first, then, much to their annoyance she doesn't separate to make her dominance tell but clinches and ends the round fighting off a submission which was completely unneccessary.
Pennington vs Silva - Strong start for Brazilian
Silva connects with a couple of early calf kicks and it immediately shows up as a bruise on Pennington's lead left leg. She manages to take the American down and threatens a choke but it's well defended in the end and Pennington lives to see another round.
Next up - title fight time
Raquel Pennington vs Marya Bueno Silva is up next in the co-main event for the women's bantamweight title. Silva is great on the ground and believes she has the all-round game to win in every department tonight. She's training with ATT and developing all the time, we'll see if she can beat a veteran who is hard as nails in Pennington.
MAGNY WINS BY TKO
Incredible! What a comeback win for Magny! Malott is gutted and still lying in the middle of the cage. He was 12 seconds from staying undefeated. Magny slammed his way out of a guillotine, forced his way to mount and then landed repeated heavy ground and pound, the Canadian had no answers and the Haitian Sensation comes away with one of the best wins of his career.
Malott vs Magny - Dominant by the Canadian
Malott is showing why he's such a coming force. He takes Magny down twice and the second occasion sweeps right into mount before finishing the round with some heavy elbows. Magny does well to deny him clear winning chances but needs a finish of his own to win here.
Mike Malott watch
Mike Malott is an absolute specimin. He's basically a test tube MMA fighter and the Canadian men are 0-6 tonight so the crowd need a win from him. He's won his first three fights in the UFC and we'll know more about his ability if he can come through Neil Magny. He's seen as a gatekeeper and this should be a real challenge.
It was grim from Strickland this week
His fans will back him to the hilt but it was really disappointing to see Strickland's venemous attack on a journalist this week and homophobic, anti-trans and sexist comments. Those aren't exactly new but as champion you felt he might have used the chance not to spread bile.
And a superb third!
Finally the fight came alive and it really felt as though both men were responding to the crowd's discontent. Curtis finished strong and Barriault started the better, with uppercuts and elbows galore from the combatants. The stats say they were withing five significant strikes of each other.
A dozy first round
Curtis is happy to use the opening round to check out his opponent and make reads for the 10 minutes to follow. Neither man is particularly keen on being the agressor and Barriault seemed to be throwing with 70 percent power, though he did land one nice body kick. More action in the second please.
29-28 unanimous decision
Allen comes up short. Evloev says: 'Arnold is a good fighter, tough you know, I feel like I can fight with anyone in my division now. Let's see who wins between Alex Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria and I'm ready to fight the winner of that. 18-0 is no joke. Everybody is waiting for finishes but thanks God for the win.
Great final round!
Looks like 18-0 for Evloev. Allen is given a hard warning by Marc Goddard for knees to the head when Evloev had his hand on the mat, it was close but the right call. Allen knows he has to chase the KO and gets a bit loose. He threatened a finish of his own with a ninja choke but the Russian wrenched himself out and has clearly done enough to win this one as we head to the scorecards.
Allen rocked!
'Almighty' is just surviving right now after being dropped to a knee briefly and cut badly beneath his eye. He managed to get back to his feet from another takedown but isn't landing much of his own offence and surprisingly is being caught by the Russian. He needs a big stoppage to win it here.
Evloev takes the opener
Solid start for Allen and he looks extremely light on his feet and confident, landing a couple of nice body shots. But the Russian has his own success with the jab and doesn't sustain any serious damage. He takes the Brit down towards the end of the round but he manages to scramble well, not enough to win the round, which was close, but could be a sign of things to come.
Can Arnold bounce back?
This is one of the most intriguing match-ups on the entire card. Allen has strutted out to 'We Will Rock You', which always goes down an absolute treat. Second time I've heard that today after watching Knight's Tale earlier.
Allen is out to show his game is well rounded against a wrestling supremo, having fought strikers in his recent bouts. An impressive display here puts him right back in the mix for the featherweight title shot.
MAIN CARD TIME
Here we go! Strickland and Du Plessis appeared on the huge screens inside the arena and were given a massive pop from the crowd. Canadians are out in force for this one and relishing the start of the main card. The pre-lims didn't exactly catch fire but Arnold Allen should hopefully get them off their feet first up.
Arnold is back tonight!
I spoke to Arnold Allen briefly this week ahead of his return to the octagon nine months after he fell short against Holloway. That defeat still rankles him but a win over the undefeated Evloev tonight would put him right back in the title conversation.
Strickland - the UFC's most controversial fighter
The long list of life and career incident that will blow your mind about Sean Strickland is something that could only be found in MMA. He has endured severe childhood trauma which at least explains his behaviour sometimes without excusing it. Here's a look inside his world.
Strickland in top shape
Strickland has not always looked the part of an elite level athlete but he's clearly grafted extremely hard for this one. He knows huge fights are in his future and can cash in on PPV points with a bit of a sustained reign but faces a man in Du Plessis desperate to become the first UFC champ from South Africa.
Good news for Du Plessis?
He does very occasionally get one right but is known for his curse and generally poor betting record. Anyhow, Drake is going big on Strickland tonight...
Here's our exclusive with Sam this week
Sam spoke to Mail Sport's James Cohen this week and has managed to back up his words with an impressive first-round submission win. Thw 27-year-old from Walford has a really bright future.
Patterson among early-prelim winners
Early pre-lim results:
Jimmy Flick started the show as the first fight of the night in Toronto, beating Malcolm Gordon by second-round submission and there were also wins for JasmineJasudavicius and England's Sam Patterson, also by submission. Patterson had a nightmare debut last year with a really bad KO defeat so this win will feel extra sweet for him to restart his UFC career in earnest.
FULL FIGHT LIST
Check out who will be in action tonight below:
Sean Strickland (c) vs Dricus du Plessis, middleweight title
Mayra Bueno Silva vs Raquel Pennington, women's bantamweight title
Mike Malott vs Neil Magny, welterweights
Chris Curtis vs Marc-Andre Barriault, middleweight
Movsar Evloev vs. Arnold Allen, featherweight
Brad Katona vs Garrett Armfield, bantamweight
Charles Jourdain vs Sean Woodson, featherweight
Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras, bantamweight
Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana, women's strawweight
Yohan Lainesse vs Sam Patterson, welterweight
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Priscila Cachoeira, women's flyweight
Malcolm Gordon vs Jimmy Flick, flyweight
Welcome aboard fight fans
Good evening, morning or whatever it is where you are... we're in for a treat tonight with the first major card of the year for the UFC, with the middleweight title on the line in Toronto, Canada.
Sean Strickland was in predictably feral form on the microphone this week and there will be plenty tuning in hoping to see him lose against Dricus du Plessis tonight. Was his incredible win over Israel Adesanya just a flash in the pan or is the new champ here to stay?
Keep it here as we bring you all the pre-lim action, build up to the main card and live updates throughout.
- MAGNY WINS BY TKO
- Frankie Edgar inducted to Hall of Fame
- 29-28 unanimous decision
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