Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis: Preview, Where to Watch and Betting Odds

UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland makes his first title defense against streaking South African Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297. The pair already got things started when Sean Strickland attacked du Plessis at UFC 296. The champ, seated a few rows away from his challenger, asked audience members to move aside and then charged at the South African. Du Plessis refused to press assault charges, rather promising to give Strickland the beating of his life in a nod to Strickland's abusive father. Having upset Israel Adesanya to claim the 185-pound gold last year, Sean Strickland is the moderate favorite ahead of his maiden title defense.

MMA: UFC Middleweight Championship

Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Canada

Where to watch: ESPN+ PPV

Date: 21.01.2024. 08.00

The American, who debuted in the UFC in 2014, saw losses to Santiago Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman in his early years. A very good defensive striker, the 32-year-old Sean Strickland has perfected the act of stopping attacks. Losing to Alex Perreira and Jared Cannonier in succession in 2022, "Tarzan" seemed far from Middleweight gold, but emphatic wins in 2023 surprisingly landed the California-born fighter the title. A heavy underdog against Adesanya, Strickland knocked down "The Stylebender" to secure a unanimous decision.

• Age: 32
• Height: 6' 1"
• Reach: 76"
• Weight: 184.9 lbs
• Record: 28-5

I'm not telling you I don't want to fight you. Dricus. I'm not saying you're not a good fighter. I'm just saying that's a line that, when crossed, it transcends fighting. If I go to Canada and you bring that up, guess what? I'm going to go to jail, they're going to deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f*cking reason.

Sean Strickland

30-year-old South African Middleweight contender Dricus du Plessis is unbeaten in the UFC. Fighting out of Pretoria, the former two-time EFC Middleweight king sits behind Israel Adesanya in the Middleweight rankings. Originally matched to fight Adesanya for the championship last year, "Stillknocks" pulled out of the contest due to injury and was replaced by Sean Strickland. Dricus du Pleases, who competes professionally in grappling competitions, has four knockouts from six UFC wins. In a nod to his versatility, he shocked the MMA world with a second-round TKO of former Middleweight champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 280 last July. Noted for his awkward fighting style that opponents find very unpredictable, Dricus du Pleases has a second-degree black belt in kickboxing.

• Age: 30
• Height: 6' 0"
• Reach: 76"
• Weight: 185 lbs
• Record: 20-2

Dricus Du Plessis is rightly the No. 1 contender. The way that he dropped Robert Whittaker, the way he was just willing to stand and go toe to toe, and that's what he does. Dricus brings such a physicalness to every single fight. He's big and strong and swings with knockout intentions with every single shot. That jab that he dropped Whittaker with was beautiful, and the combination that followed was amazing. On top of that, he's very strong and has great grappling, and if he gets taken down, he can get back to his feet. But in this fight, I don't think we're going to see much of that.

Michael Bisping

Priced at 2.00 on Bet365, Dricus du Plessis is good value for the upset, with a win for the champ available at 1.80. 1XBET prices the start of round 4 at 2.25 with a bet that the fight will be over before the 4th round at 1.6. Sean Strickland by KO/TKO is available at 2.75 on Betwinner.