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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to pay-per-view this weekend with UFC 297 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, where two titles were on the line. When it was all said and done, two new champions were crowned.
UFC 297 started out with a bang when the early prelims delivered four straight finishes to get the 12-fight card underway. Unfortunately, there would only be one more finish throughout the night — with Neil Magny scoring a stunning comeback win over Mike Malott with only 15 seconds left in the bout after being dominated for the first 14 minutes of the fight.
In the co-main event, featuring Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant bantamweight championship, it was a dominant victory for Pennington, who finally had her breakthrough and claimed UFC gold.
To cap off the night, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis had a back-and-forth five-round slugfest. It was a close fight that came down to the wire in the early hours of the morning. Ultimately, it was Du Plessis who had his hand raised to become the first South African champion in UFC history.
After his win, Du Plessis called out former champion Israel Adesanya, who he was previously expected to face before Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland.
Dricus Du Plessis called out Israel Adesanya đź‘€ #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/duH3QNaZ79
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 21, 2024
“There was another guy who tried to take my shine,” Du Plessis said. “He lost his shine. Now, I have your shine. You didn’t get into the cage tonight, but Israel Adesanya, get your ass back in the UFC so we can settle the score.”
Whether the UFC ultimately decides to match Du Plessis against Adesanya or schedule a rematch with Strickland remains to be seen, but either fight should be an intriguing battle for the fans.
If you missed out on Saturday night’s action, we have you covered.
A full look at the UFC 297 results can be seen below.
UFC 297 Results
- Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
- Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
- Neil Magny def. Mike Malott via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:45
- Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via split decision (30-27, 28–29, 30-27)
- Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain via split decision (29-28, 28–29, 29-28)
- Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey via split decision (29-28, 28–29, 29-28)
- Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:12
- Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:03
- Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 3, 4:21
- Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:17
