There were reports that former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was going to be sitting cageside for the UFC 297 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, which took place last Sat. night (Jan. 20, 2023) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. That led to speculation “The Last Stylebender” would storm the Octagon and face off against Dricus Du Plessis (again), after “Stillknocks” went on to win a close split decision over Sean Strickland after five rounds of back-and-forth action.
Instead, we got … nothing.
As one of the reporters mentioned at the UFC 297 press conference (watch it here), UFC CEO Dana White gets asked about the UFC 300 fight card “every day at this point.” Probably because White and Co. have been promoting the landmark event as one of the most “insane” spectacles we’ll ever see. While the current card is certainly impressive (see it here), it still does not have a championship main event, which could be the make-or-break fight in terms of historical grandeur.
It certainly won’t be Strickland vs. Du Plessis 2.
“Eventually these two are gonna end up fighting again I’m sure, but we’re not thinking about an immediate rematch right now,” White said after the fight. “I’ll have 300’s main event for you soon. We’ll figure this out Tuesday. We’ll probably announce it next week.”
White could be waiting for Du Plessis to pass medicals before pulling the trigger on the Adesanya fight. Then again, “Stillknocks” does not have the best track record when it comes to keeping the promotion’s plans intact. His refusal to compete at UFC 293 after disposing of former champion Robert Whittaker — a fight that lasted less than two rounds — is how Strickland scored a title fight and eventually upset Adesanya, leading to the Du Plessis title defense at UFC 297.
Perhaps that “Stylebender” injury wasn’t so bad after all.
Hopefully we can get some answers next week. It probably would have made a bigger impact to make UFC 300 announcements during the UFC 297 broadcast (or shortly thereafter) when most of the combat sports world was paying attention, rather than a random Tuesday during a non-fight week. The promotion will remain out of action until UFC Vegas 85: “Dolidze vs. Imavov” on Feb. 3 at APEX in Las Vegas, one of four UFC cards booked for next month’s busy schedule (see it here).
For complete UFC 297 results and play-by-play action click here. For more UFC 297 news and notes including video highlights, recaps, reactions, and more, check out our comprehensive “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news archive by clicking here.