Sean Strickland-mania has hit Toronto.
The UFC middleweight champion seems to be to hold the momentum from a raucous 2023 marketing campaign that turned the MMA world on its head when he faces Dricus du Plessis in Saturday’s UFC 297 principal occasion. When 2022 got here to a detailed, Strickland was on a two-fight shedding streak; now he enters January looking for his first title protection. How shortly issues can change.
Du Plessis will undoubtedly be considering the identical factor on struggle evening as he brings his unblemished UFC report to Scotiabank Area. The South African additionally hopes to change into the primary UFC champion in his nation’s historical past and if he can proceed his latest run of type, he’ll just do that.
Within the co-main occasion, Mayra Bueno Silva and Raquel Pennington sq. off for a vacant bantamweight title. The belt has remained unclaimed since Amanda Nunes retired this previous June and with former champion Julianna Peña presently sidelined, it’s Silva and Pennington who get their shot on the crown. Can the winner deliver some pleasure and stability to a struggling division?
In different principal card motion, UFC welterweight wins chief Neil Magny seems to be to cease Canadian golden boy Mike Malott, Chris Curtis takes on Marc-Andre Barriault in a middleweight struggle, and Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev battle to remain on the entrance of the featherweight contender image.
What: UFC 297
The place: Scotiabank Area in Toronto
When: Saturday, Jan. 20. The cardboard begins with a three-fight early prelims portion on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET, with persevering with protection of the four-fight prelim card on ESPN and ESPN+ starting at 8 p.m. ET. The five-fight principal card begins at 10 p.m. ET and is out there completely on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
(Numbers in parentheses point out standing in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings)
Sean Strickland (1) vs. Dricus du Plessis (3)
Sean Strickland’s first title protection could possibly be his final, however one will get the sense that this would possibly simply be his week.
The controversial champion’s “we the individuals” shtick has been in full power in Toronto, and it’s clear that he has a reference to the fan base, a connection that has to enchantment to the UFC bean counters with loads of 2024 headliners left to fill out. Whereas it’s unclear how a lot of Strickland’s confidence is pushed by optimistic reinforcement, but when he wants to attract from the group for help, it seems like they’ll be there in power.
He would possibly want that to take care of the uber-aggressive Dricus du Plessis. Standard knowledge says that this struggle favors du Plessis early and Strickland late, although it appears like loads of choices are on the desk. “DDP” just lately had surgical procedure to handle a difficulty together with his nostril that was supposedly affecting his cardio (he definitely appeared match in opposition to Robert Whittaker), so is a choice win by du Plessis actually out of the query? And although Strickland hasn’t completed anybody within the first spherical in ages, you’ll be able to image him benefiting from du Plessis’ aggression and touchdown a clear shot to finish the struggle early (don’t neglect he dropped Israel Adesanya on the finish of Spherical 1).
One factor to remember is that Strickland is fairly arduous to hit. Sure, we’re not far faraway from his latest two-fight shedding streak, however in a type of fights he was on the fallacious finish of Alex Pereira’s energy, and within the different, he misplaced a tricky choice to Jared Cannonier in a struggle the place neither man landed a telling blow.
So Strickland could make it previous the primary two rounds. From there, cardio will probably be king and he’ll push the tempo on a fading du Plessis till he both guts out the choice or places du Plessis away with strikes in Spherical 5.
The circus goes on.
Choose: Strickland
Raquel Pennington (2) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (1)
At the same time as an advocate for this being a title struggle price watching, I’m not going to foretell that the matchup turns right into a stunning barn-burner. We had been blessed with Karol Rosa vs. Irene Aldana only a month in the past, it’s so much to ask for 2 bantamweight blessings so shut collectively.
The perfect we will hope for is a convincing win by both Raquel Pennington or Mayra Bueno Silva that not solely provides us a brand new undisputed champion, however nudges the ladies’s 135-pound division towards a stage nearer to that of its previous glory. So what does “convincing” imply for these two fighters?
For Pennington, all she has to do is preserve irritating Silva along with her grinding preventing model and capitalize on sufficient errors to win three out of 5 rounds. Pennington hardly ever places a ending stamp on her wins, so she’ll have to manage stretches of the motion whereas including punches in bunches. That could possibly be sufficient for her to lastly declare that elusive UFC title.
For Silva, she has a status to dwell as much as. In a division that’s sometimes gentle on highlights, Silva has confirmed herself to be a finisher, and something lower than a first- or second-round submission can be disappointing.
Going practically 5 rounds with Amanda Nunes all these years again says so much about Pennington’s toughness and willpower, so Silva’s offense needs to be on level. Luckily, she has loads of methods to get this struggle to the bottom and dominate along with her grappling.
Let’s see Silva win this struggle by submission to kick off a brand new period within the girls’s bantamweight division.
Choose: Silva
Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
Neil Magny is about to make a variety of Canadian followers actual sad.
Mike Malott is the present Golden Boy of the North together with his thrilling preventing model and likeable presence on the microphone. He’s in for an enormous bounce within the rankings if he can get previous Magny. The priority right here is how a lot of a bounce up in competitors Magny is in comparison with Malott’s earlier opponents.
With respect to Adam Fugitt, Yohan Lainesse, and Mickey Gall, none of their résumés examine to that of Magny, who occurs to be the welterweight division’s profession chief in wins. Even when Magny appears weak, or on the decline with a lot mileage on him, he’s nonetheless a authentic high 20 fighter at 170 kilos and Malott hasn’t confronted something near that but.
Magny sometimes has a attain benefit in his fights and will probably be much more noticeable in opposition to Malott. In line with the official measurements, Magny has a seven-inch attain benefit, one other deficit that Malott has by no means needed to make up for earlier than.
The place Malott is closely favored is on the bottom. It’s no secret that submission protection has been a weak point of Magny’s over time, so if Malott continues to point out off the flexibility that has made him a possible contender in 2024, these 4-to-1 odds he’s getting as the favourite will appear to be simple cash.
Name me a sucker for not giving up on Magny simply but. I see him retaining Malott at bay for 3 rounds and putting his solution to a choice win.
Choose: Magny
Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Along with his greatest bud in the primary occasion, Chris Curtis received’t have his favourite cornerman, however he shouldn’t have an excessive amount of hassle making the changes wanted to defeat Marc-Andre Barriault.
Quebec’s “Energy Bar” has emerged as an element at 185 kilos with wins in 5 of his previous seven fights, and he’s developed a mode that’s difficult for opponents. Barriault hits arduous, throws with an honest quantity of quantity, and has a decent chin.
That mentioned, Curtis is means too technical for him. “The Motion Man” has had terribly dangerous luck with unintentional head clashes affecting the outcomes of his previous two fights, so so long as he can keep away from a Barriault bull cost he must be OK. This must be a strict putting battle that Curtis controls from begin to end.
It’s going to be a enjoyable evening for Xtreme Couture. Curtis by choice.
Choose: Curtis
Arnold Allen (5) vs. Movsar Evloev (T9)
What a banger of a featherweight matchup and one that’s exceedingly shut on paper. Arnold Allen, close to untouchable earlier than a hard-fought loss to Max Holloway; Movsar Evloev, truly untouchable up to now in his profession with a spotless 17-0 report.
We’ve seen some cracks in Evloev’s armor. In his most up-to-date struggle with Diego Lopes, he was taken to the restrict early, and had been it not for his coronary heart and unbelievable defensive instincts, he won’t be opening UFC 297 with a possible title shot ready for him. He can’t afford a gradual begin in opposition to Allen, who, whereas not probably the most dynamic finisher, definitely has the power and athleticism to finish this one quick.
Can Allen pull the set off? That’s one other query looming over not simply this matchup, however Allen’s probabilities of ever changing into champion. Nobody would query that he’s one of many 10 greatest featherweights on this planet. What we’re left to marvel is that if he has that aggressive hearth to creator that exclamation level second that places him excessive.
Let’s make one factor clear: Whoever loses this struggle isn’t “uncovered” nor are they faraway from the championship equation. It can simply take some work to creep again up the charts. What we do know is that the winner can have a powerful case to be the subsequent man as much as struggle both Alexander Volkanovski or Ilia Topuria.
And the subsequent man up is Movsar Evloev.
Choose: Evloev
Preliminaries
Brad Katona def. Garrett Armfield
Charles Jourdain def. Sean Woodson
Serhiy Sidey def. Ramon Taveras
Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana
Yohan Lainesse def. Sam Patterson
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