UFC 297 Toronto main event betting details, Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis

The UFC will be in Toronto on January 20 for UFC 297. With former middleweight champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira out of the title picture at the moment, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis have a chance to claim their spot as the top man in the middleweight division. No one saw this fight coming a few months ago. Now Strickland and Du Plessis are in the spotlight. 

Fight details

Sean Strickland will fight Dricus Du Plessis for the UFC’s middleweight title at UFC 297 in Toronto on January 20. This is the main event. Strickland is the slight early betting favourite on UFC betting sites. He has -130 odds to win the fight on Bet99. Du Plessis is the early underdog. Du Plessis has +110 odds to win his first UFC championship. Strickland has a 28-5 professional MMA record. Du Plessis has a 20-2 professional MMA record.

Sean “Tarzan” Strickland

Sean Strickland won the middleweight championship by defeating Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 by unanimous decision. Strickland was a huge underdog when he entered the octagon to fight Adesnya. He is a slight early betting favourite as he attempts to make his first middleweight title defence. Strickland is primarily a striker, but he only has four KO/TKO victories in the UFC. He wins the majority of his fights by decision. His KO/TKO victory against Abus Magomedov in July of 2023 was his first knockout win since 2020. If Strickland wins this fight, he will probably win by decision because he usually wins by decision and Du Plessis has not been stopped in his UFC career.

If you are considering backing the champ in this fight, Strickland has a few things going for him. He has fought much tougher competition than Du Plessis has, fights against Adesanya, Alex Pereira, and Jared Connonier to name a few. Du Plessis has knockout power and has shown the ability to strike with UFC middleweights, but Pereira and Adesanya are recognized as two of the best strikers in the UFC. Strickland should be more than prepared if this fight stays standing. Strickland also has much more experience on his side. He has gone five rounds in the UFC five times and has title fight experience.

His opponent has been in a fight that has gone five rounds. Strickland prefers to keep the fight standing, but has shown some ability to wrestle. If Du Plessis can not put Strickland on his back a couple of times in this fight, Strickland should have a great shot in this fight if his chin holds up against Du Plessis’ power.

Dricus “Stillknocks” Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis is the number two ranked middleweight in the UFC. Du Plessis has a 20-2 professional MMA record. He has a perfect 6-0 record in the UFC since making his debut in late 2020. This is Du Plessis’ first title shot in the UFC. His last fight was a KO/TKO victory over Robert Whittaker, who was the number two ranked middleweight at the time. None of the fighters other than Whittaker whom Du Plessis has defeated in the UFC so far are currently ranked.

Du Plessis climbed the UFC’s middleweight ranks by winning fights with his knockout power and versatility. Du Plessis won four of his six UFC fights by KO/TKO. He has one decision win and one submission victory. Du Plessis has shown strong striking ability, with his legs and hands. He also showed the ability to wrestle during his recent fights and has a submission victory under his belt. Du Plessis has a lot of tools that will help him in this fight, but he has never been past three rounds in a UFC fight. Whether or not Du Plessis can win the later rounds should be a huge deciding factor in this fight.

If Du Plessis wins this fight, he should win by KO/TKO because his power has been a huge problem for all of his opponents in the UFC and this fight will be for five rounds. Sean Strickland has only been knocked out twice during his UFC career, but one of those knockouts was in a recent fight against current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in 2022 and Strickland is a striker who is willing to trade strikes.

Rest Of The UFC 297 Card