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Former Champion Dominick Cruz Returns to the Commentary Table in Place of Joe Rogan at UFC 297

Two-time bantamweight titleholder Dominick Cruz will return to the commentary booth for the promotion’s first pay-per-view event of 2024….

Two-time bantamweight titleholder Dominick Cruz will return to the commentary booth for the promotion’s first pay-per-view event of 2024.

On Saturday (January 20), the Ultimate Fighting Championship will head to the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada for UFC 297. Emanating from Scotiabank Arena, the event will be headlined by an all-too-personal clash between South African contender Dricus Du Plessis and the reigning and defending middleweight world champion, Sean Strickland.

The co-main event of the evening will serve to crown a new women’s bantamweight titleholder as division veteran Raquel Pennington takes on the streaking Mayra Bueno Silva.

With less than a week to go until fight night, the promotion has not yet released details regarding who will be guiding us through the loaded night of fights. Per a report from MMA Junkie, Jon Anik will be your play-by-play man while Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz are set to join him at the desk and lend their unique perspective on the evening’s action. Cruz will take Joe Rogan’s place as the longtime commentator and popular podcaster no longer travels outside of the U.S. for UFC events.

Joining the trio will be UFC correspondent Megan Olivi who will conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage throughout the evening.

The full card for UFC 297 is as follows:

MAIN CARD

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis – Middleweight Title Fight
Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – Vacant Women’s Bantamweight Title Fight
Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev

PRELIMS

Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick

As always, the card is subject to change.

Sean Strickland warns Dricus du Plessis against mentioning childhood trauma ahead of UFC 297 fight: ‘I’ll stab you’

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland threatens to stab upcoming opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, after the South African’s comments…

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland threatens to stab upcoming opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, after the South African’s comments at a UFC 297 press conference.

Strickland is now under a week away from his first title defence and will take on Du Plessis who has gone 6-0 with the promotion since debuting in 2020. The fight always seemed like it had the potential to be a fun one conserving the pair’s willingness to exchange on the feet, but after a heated press conference and subsequent scuffle, there is some real heat heading into this one.

Strickland has been open regarding abuse he suffered as a child, Du Plessis would then use this as ammunition against the 32-year-old at a press conference.

“Bro, why are you so angry? Du Plessis asked. You think your dad beat the shit out of you? Your dad doesn’t have shit on me. I’m going to show you what it’s like to get beaten. Every childhood memory you have is going to come back.”

This clearly rattled Sean Strickland who became extremely animated before calling Du Plessis a homophobic slur. After some unfortunate Strickland would leap at Du Plessis before striking him multiple times.

Sean Strickland doubles down ahead of UFC 297

Strickland often says outrageous things, often personally attacking other fighters, using language that many would consider to be homophobic or misogynistic. However, rather hypocritically, Sean Strickland now claims that Du Plessis crossed the line with his comments and is clearly still very upset.

Talking on his YouTube alongside fellow UFC fighter Chris Curtis, Strickland said that he messaged Du Plessis after the incident and said that if he talked about Strickland’s abuse again, he would stab him.

“Remember when I attacked Dricus? I actually sent him a message,” Sean Strickland said on his YouTube channel. “‘Dude listen, Dricus, we’re gonna go try to murder each other, but if you bring that sh*t up again, I will (expletive) stab you. Press conference, weigh-in… he was cool about it. I’m not telling you I don’t wanna fight you, Dricus, I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that’s a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting. If I go to Canada and you bring that up, guess what? I’m gonna go to jail, they’re gonna deport me and we spent eight weeks of training for no (expletive) reason.”

What do you make of the situation between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis?

Khamzat Chimaev issues warning ahead of UFC 297 title fight: ‘I didn’t know I was scaring them so much’

Unbeaten middleweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev remains steadfast in his claim to a title shot in his return to the…

Unbeaten middleweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev remains steadfast in his claim to a title shot in his return to the Octagon – claiming he was unaware his recent targets, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis were so scared of him ahead of their own battle at UFC 297 this month.

Chimaev, the current number nine ranked middleweight contender, improved to 13-0 as a professional back in October at UFC 294, turning in a close, majority decision win over former undisputed welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman in his return to active competition.

Landing in the top-10 off the back of his middleweight return victory, Chechen-born contender, Chimaev suffered a hand ligament injury in the opening round of the bout, and has since undergone a surgical procedure to address the setback, as well as battling a worrying, unknown illness.

Eyeing a championship challenge in his immediate return, Chimaev’s claim has been immediately shot down by du Plessis, who questions the validity of his stake, while Strickland has questioned the meritocracy in which he’s earned a tilt recently.

Khamzat Chimaev mocks Strickland et du Plessis

And sure to have a keen eye on UFC 297 later this month ahead of Strickland’s title defense premiere against South African contender, du Plessis, Chimaev claims he wasn’t aware he was “scaring” the duo.

“They have a fight soon, but they both think about me, I didn’t know that I was scaring them so much,” Khamzat Chimaev posted on his official X account.

Preferring a title defense against arch-enemy, Israel Adesanya – who will be in attendance in ‘The Great White North’ should he defeat Strickland, du Plessis claimed a fight with gold on the line against Chimaev made less than sense.

“As far as I know Khamzat’s (Chimaev) a welterweight,” Dricus du Plessis said. “What middleweight did he fight? He fought at middleweight, but he fought a welterweight [in Kamaru Usman]. Gerald Meerschaert? When was that? Was he even ranked? No, he wasn’t ranked. So, that makes absolutely no sense.”

“The UFC promised him a title fight?” Dricus du Plessis questioned. “Where in the world does that happen? And he says he’s fighting (Sean) Strickland. No, you’re not. If there’s a champion, if you get a title shot, I’m the champion, You’re not going to get a title shot. And Israel? That makes sense.”

Do you think Khamzat Chimaev deserves a title fight next?

Dricus Du Plessis Expects a Spectacular Finish in his UFC 297 headliner against Sean Strickland

Dricus Du Plessis expects his title tilt with current middleweight world champion Sean Strickland to deliver an early contender…

Dricus Du Plessis expects his title tilt with current middleweight world champion Sean Strickland to deliver an early contender for Fight of the Year.

On Saturday (January 20), ‘Stillknocks’ will head to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto determined to cash in on his first shot at UFC gold. Standing in his way will be the reigning and defending 185-pound king, Sean Strickland, who is defending his strap for the first time since scoring it via a picture-perfect performance against Israel Adesanya last year.

Through six fights inside the Octagon, Du Plessis carries with him a perfect record and five highlight-reel-worthy finishes, but many fans remain skeptical about his gas tank, which has depleted fast in past scraps.

Looking ahead to his headliner in The Great White North, ‘DDP’ is confident that his cardio will be ready to go a full five rounds after undergoing a career-changing nose surgery, but he anticipates things to end both early and spectacularly come fight night.

“If this is a Sean Strickland fight of punching really, really, really soft and jab, jab, jab, if that’s the case – which it won’t be (because) I won’t allow it – then I’ll be there in the fifth round making sure I win this fight by decision,” Du Plessis told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “That’s what it takes to become the world champion. But in my honest opinion, this fight is not going the distance. There’s no way. He’s a guy who walks forward. I’m a guy who likes to go forward. I’ve said this and this is one thing. This is the fight game.

“Anything can always happen, but I can promise you this. I’ve never been involved in a boring fight in my life and I promise you I won’t because a boring fight is a choice. I know it’s not going to be boring. This is going to be one of those fights. If he can stay standing, if he can take what I give, this is a Fight of the Year contender, 100 percent” (h/t Yahoo! Sport).

Du Plessis erased some of the skepticism surrounding him after he pummeled former middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July. But one performance in particular still hovers over him, leaving a chip on his shoulder.

“I have one decision in my whole career, and that’s Brad Tavares,” Du Plessis said. “In that fight, we came to a situation where the fight basically, if you look at the punches thrown in that fight, just the punch count, look at that fight again. You’ll see what I’m made of. You look at a guy like Brad Tavares, who is truly one of the most durable guys in the world. When he got to that third round, he definitely won the first round. I won the second. In the third round, the commentators were saying, ‘Dricus is tired. He’s really tired.’

“It doesn’t matter how tired I am. I’m going to do what I need to do to win the fight. … This is the end of Dricus not as a champion. That ends next week, Saturday.”

Will Sean Strickland come out on top in his first middleweight title defense, or will Dricus Du Plessis once again prove the oddsmakers wrong?

Dricus du Plessis shuts down title fight with Khamzat Chimaev after UFC 297: ‘It makes absolutely no sense’

Ahead of his championship tilt at UFC 297 later this month, incoming title challenger, Dricus du Plessis claims the…

Ahead of his championship tilt at UFC 297 later this month, incoming title challenger, Dricus du Plessis claims the chances of him defending the belt should win in a clash against Khamzat Chimaev are slim to none – questioning the validity of the Chechen’s title aspirations.

Headlining UFC 297 this month in the organization’s return to Canada, du Plessis takes on incumbent welterweight kingpin, Sean Strickland in his first foray for the belt since landing in the promotion back in 2020.

Earning his title fight with a stunning win back in July during International Fight Week, du Plessis landed a shocking knockout win over former title challenger, Robert Whittaker in the pair’s championship-eliminator.

And as far as Chimaev is concerned, his October victory over former undisputed welterweight champion and prior pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman has earned him a title fight in his return to the Octagon.

Dricus du Plessis downplays Khamzat Chimaev fight after UFC 297

Claiming he has been guaranteed the victor of UFC 297’s headlining title fight, incoming challenger, du Plessis insists a fight with the unbeaten star makes no sense in his immediate fighting future.

“As far as I know Khamzat’s (Chimaev) a welterweight,” Dricus du Plessis told MMA Junkie during a recent interview. “What middleweight did he fight? He fought at middleweight, but he fought a welterweight [in Kamaru Usman]. Gerald Meerschaert? When was that? Was he even ranked? No, he wasn’t ranked. So, that makes absolutely no sense.”

Who wins in a future title fight: Dricus du Plessis or Khamzat Chimaev?

Dricus Du Plessis reveals conversation with dana white about pressing charges against Sean Strickland

Dricus Du Plessis spoke with UFC CEO Dana White about potentially pressing charges against Sean Strickland after the reigning…

Dricus Du Plessis spoke with UFC CEO Dana White about potentially pressing charges against Sean Strickland after the reigning 185-pound champ attacked him in the crowd at the promotion’s final pay-per-view of 2023.

Following a heated verbal confrontation at the UFC Seasonal Press Conference last month, tempers boiled over inside T-Mobile Arena when Strickland and Du Plessis were seated in the same section for UFC 296. After politely asking Gilbert Burns’ family to move out of the way, Strickland lept over the seats and attacked Du Plessis, giving fight fans a preview of their highly anticipated middleweight title clash scheduled to go down on January 20 in Toronto.

Both fighters walked away from the incident unscathed, but given that Strickland initiated the scuffle, Du Plessis was given the option to press charges.

“I know Dana came to me and said, ‘Listen, this is the case. We’re really sorry about this,” Du Plessis told MMA Junkie. “Obviously, the police had him and charges can be pressed because that’s assault. It’s outside of a professional arena. They didn’t try to convince me otherwise at all. They literally said, ‘If you feel like that was uncalled for, we completely understand if you want to press charges and take this further.’

“I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. Please no.’ We are two fighters. It was a good old scrap like we did before we became professionals. I just paused and was like, ‘I would even take the blame if that’s possible, just to make sure that nothing happens to him’” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Had ‘Stillknocks’ opted to press charges, it likely would have spelled the end of their anticipated title tilt in The Great White North.

“We know to come to Canada, they are very strict,” Du Plessis continued. “They are very, very strict in getting into the country. I just wanted to make sure that if the fight wasn’t in jeopardy. I never even think of Sean Strickland trying to get away. He’s the type of guy who’s always game. He’s a guy who will go out on his shield and do it with honor.”

“I took on his manliness. I was in his face. I told him, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ He stood up for himself. That’s what a real man does. I’m happy for him. I’m glad he has that in him. No matter what the situation, what the repercussions, he didn’t think about it. He said, ‘I’m standing up for myself,’ and rightfully so. That’s where the respect comes from because that’s exactly what I would’ve done.”

Dricus Du Plessis Is Ready to Drop the drama and focus on winning gold

With fight night closing in, Du Plessis is content to leave all the drama behind and focus on capturing his first UFC title.

“I hope it’s over now, but there’s not going to be one-ups. There are no one-ups. What’s going to happen, is going to happen. We’ll see how it plays out, but right now my focus is on the fight. I’m not here to be funny. I’m not here to try and create something that there’s not. I’m here to be the next champion of the world. That’s why I’m here. I’m not going to be here to try to one-up or get even further. I’m going to do what I’m going to do and he’s going to do what he’s going to do. But right now, it’s almost senseless to try to create more hype.”

“The hype has been created. That took care of itself. Right now, for me, this is business. The whole fight week is business. Everything I handle, I’ll handle it like business. Saturday night, I’ll be signing on the dotted line, closing the deal.”

UFC 297 will emanate from Scotiabank Arena. Strickland defends his title for the first time since scoring a stunning unanimous decision victory against Israel Adesanya to claim the crown in September. Du Plessis goes into his first title opportunity backed by six-straight wins inside the Octagon. Stillknocks’ earned his shot with a brutal second-round knockout of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.