Dricus du Plessis is the new UFC middleweight champion after beating Sean Strickland on a split decision at UFC 297 in Toronto. In the co-main event, American Raquel Pennington defeated Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision to become the new bantamweight champion. It was a mixed night for British fighters: Arnold Allen lost to Movsar Evloev but Sam Patterson made Yohan Lainesse tap.
The pair engaged in a bitter war of words prior to the fight and even a brawl in the crowd of UFC 296 but Strickland was very controlled once the bout got underway.
He controlled the first with Du Plessis unable to penetrate his defence while being peppered by jabs in the opening round which left the challenger with a bruised left eye.
Du Plessis (now 21-2) adjusted to this and increasingly landed with power shots with either hand as the rounds went on. A straight right opened a nasty cut above Strickland’s left eye. The South African also had six takedowns in all helping him edge the middle rounds.
Going out for the final round, Strickland (who slips to 28-6) appeared circumspect while Du Plessis banged his chest embracing the contest.
However, the champion fought the better in the final round landing his jabs once more with regularity, showing good defence and avoiding two more attempted takedowns, but it proved too little, too late as the South African took the crown.
