UFC 297: Women’s Bantamweight Division Back; Du Plessis Looks for Gold
The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, is primed for enthralling MMA fights from the entire UFC 297 card. Sean Strickland defends his UFC Middleweight championship against Dricus du Plessis in the main event. The vacant Women’s Bantamweight Championship is also on the line as Raquel Pennington fights Mayra Bueno Silva.
Du Plessis’ Rise to Glory
It’s been quite a journey for Dricus du Plessis. The South African fighter has most certainly put in the hard yards to get here, to the main event of UFC 297. He fought with the Extreme Fighting Championship in his homeland for an extended period, having won both the welterweight and middleweight titles in the promotion.
During that time, du Plessis also went to Poland and won silverware with the infamous KSW promotion. He first appeared in the UFC back in 2020 and has continually proved his worth at the elite level of MMA competition. His debut fight in Dana White’s company was a first-round KO win against Markus Perez at a Fight Night event. Since then, du Plessis has won all his fights with the promotion on PPV cards, quickly becoming a fan favorite and a preferred fighter on the MMA news websites.
The last time du Plessis fought, he defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in a middleweight title eliminator by putting in a Performance of the Night fight, allowing him to put an exclamation point on his case for a title shot. Du Plessis has said that he will replicate that type of show as he wants to stop the fight before the judges are called into action.
Strickland Seen it All Before
Sean Strickland was considered by many to be the underdog in his last fight against Israel Adesanya. He’s been the favorite before, too, across his 33 career fights, and very little can phase him going into his 34th as he defends his UFC middleweight championship.
His success has been built upon solid defensive work, which has been able to block and evade his opponents’ attacks, leading to successful counterattacks. As such, he’s often been able to dominate the judges’ score cards and win lots of fights by decision. His opponent here at UFC 297 couldn’t be any more different, as he loves to finish fights via KO or stoppage.
Strickland will most likely be booed at the event as he took to social media to say that he didn’t want to fight in Canada and even took shots at the female fighters on the cards. In turn, this angered Mayra Bueno Silva, who is participating in the co-main. Silva stated that Strickland’s not a big star, simply a loudmouth.
Pennington and Silva Collide for Vacant Strap
Amanda Nunes vacated her UFC bantamweight championship after she announced that she would be retiring from MMA in June 2023. Since then, the division hasn’t had a poster girl to promote it. All that will change when Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva fight in the UFC 297 co-main event for the spoils.
Nobody can deny Pennington a title shot at this point. While she came up short against Amanda Nunes in 2015 for the title, she’s now on the best run of form of her life. Five consecutive victories have completely rebuilt her stature as she’s defeated top fighters like Aspen Ladd, Macy Chiasson, and, most recently, Ketlen Vieira. Can she make it six and bring home the gold?
Silva comes into this fight, having defeated Holly Holm back in July 2023. Well, she did on the night. Yet, that result was officially overturned, in what was MMA breaking news at the time, as the Brazilian tested positive for a banned substance, Ritalinic acid. She will no doubt have a point to prove when she gets into the cage for this fight. Can she use her pent-up anger to help her defeat Pennington? Silva loves to lock in a killer hold, having won the majority of her fights through this style, having incredibly fierce armbar and kneebar attacks.
Mallot Expecting Ontario Home Advantage
With the event taking place in Toronto, Canada (within the Ontario province), it means that Mike Mallot will probably get the biggest crowd pop on the night, with him being from Burlington, a city just down the road from Toronto.
He is set to fight the American and UFC stalwart Neil Magny, who for his services to MMA, will have his own supporters here in Toronto. Magny has been involved in the Welterweight division for forever and a day now, having fought 31 matches in the promotion’s division to date. He’s ranked as the #13 fighter in that specific classification right now. If he gets a win, then he might climb up. However, the majority of the Ontario crowd will be hoping Mallot can enter these standings with a win.
Female Strawweight Fighters’ Angle for Opportunity
Zhang Weili, as the UFC strawweight champion, might not have either Gillian Robertson or Polyana Viana on her radar right now, but these two fighters both need a win in order to have any chance of challenging for silverware in the future.
Niagara Falls resident Gillian Robertson can count on some home crowd support as she fights in Canada for the first time since 2019. Since that fight, her career has been very stop-start, with both wins and losses populating her overall record. A win here, however, would make her relevant again to MMA news sites.
Standing across the cage from her is the equally dedicated Polyana Viana. The Brazilian had tasted success back in her homeland, having won the Jungle Fight title at the same weight class. While she’s been with the UFC since 2018, she’s seldom shown the quality to compete at this level. This included a three-loss streak. At this juncture, she desperately needs a win as her last fight was another defeat, that time to Iasmin Lucindo, a fighter who doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page.
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