‘Be Careful What You Wish For’

Dricus Du Plessis is ready to step up in his first-ever UFC title shot and give Sean Strickland the war he’s looking for tomorrow night (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024) at UFC 297 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Strickland, who shocked the combat world and defeated Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 this past September, is gearing up for his first official defense of the UFC middleweight strap. The former welterweight contender has been nearly unstoppable since moving back up to 185 pounds in 2020, losing only to Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier over the course of 10 fights.

Standing in Strickland’s way this weekend at UFC 297 is the hard-hitting Du Plessis, who has turned in a perfect record of 6-0 since joining UFC back in 2020. He has finished all six of his fights by way of knockout or submission and is coming off a massive TKO stoppage over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. If there is any fighter in the division right now that is ready to fight for UFC gold it’s “Stillknocks.”

Luckily for fight fans, Strickland and Du Plessis have created quite the buzz around their fight. They’ve manifested bad blood out of thin air and even gave UFC some great promotional material by brawling cageside at UFC 296 last month. The two middleweights have found a way to coexist this week, but tensions were still high during Friday’s ceremonial weigh ins (watch HERE).

“Ain’t got no predictions,” said Du Plessis (shown above). “But like they say, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ He asked for death. Your wish has been granted my friend.”

Strickland, who is promising war come Saturday night, didn’t have anything to say about DDP after their final staredown. Instead, the UFC middleweight champion was surprised the promotion still gave him a microphone and thanked the Canadian fans in attendance.

“I’m just surprised that Canada let me f—king have a microphone,” said Strickland. “For you guys. To f—king war. For you guys. Let’s go f—king Canada.”

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 297 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.