Sean Strickland Defends the 185-Pound Belt Against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297

Following his unanimous decision victory over Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland makes his first title defense at the 185-pound division against Dricus “Stillknocks” DuPlessis.

And New…

On Sept. 9, Sean Strickland shocked the world.

Israel Adesanya, the former UFC middleweight champion, was an unsolvable puzzle for those outside of Alex Pereira at 185-pounds. Adesanya was undisputed at middleweight from 2019 on. Relying on his kickboxing heavy style, Adesanya would methodically pick apart his opponents on the feet for a five round fight in its entirety.

Sean Strickland was supposed to be a filler fight for the pay-per-view star, Adesanya. He entered the octagon as a +450 underdog. With 30 seconds remaining in Round 1, Strickland dropped Adesanya with a straight right-hand laying the frameworks for one of the greatest upsets in the martial arts timeline.

Following the knockdown, Strickland out-struck the champion 137-94, winning the middleweight belt by unanimous decision, 49-46.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1700722668125716617

“Stillknocks”

Three pay-per-view events prior to Strickland’s evisceration of Adesanya, Dricus “Stillknocks” Du Plessis cemented his spot as the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds.

Outside of Strickland’s win, Stillknocks had arguably the greatest upset of 2023.

Robert Whittaker was seen as the only fighter at middleweight with a skill level parallel to the former champion, Adesanya. Du Plessis and Whittaker had a scheduled bout at UFC 290. The majority of the MMA community chalked the fight up as unwinnable for the South African.

All it took was two.

Just over two minutes into Round 2 Whittaker crumbled to the canvas in despair. A lighting quick jab dropped the No. 1 contender, leading to the finishing sequence. Du Plessis drowned Bobby Knuckles in pressure following the jab, as any predator hunting a weakened prey would.

Dricus Du Plessis had earned the title of “No. 1 contender” at the 185-pound division.

To this day, this sequence still rattles me to my core

— Nate Bilgoray (@BilgorayNate) January 18, 2024

Head on Collision

What happens when you pit two immovable objects against each other. Two forces so incredibly firm in moving forward, they will walk through one another to survive.

You get War.

Sean Strickland defends his middleweight belt for the first time against the No. 1 contender, Dricus Du Plessis, Saturday night.

Both of these men have fighting styles rooted in pressure. Strickland continuously keeps his opponents at bay with the jab, following said jab with the cross to force his opponents onto their backfoot.

Du Plessis fights unpredictably, moving erratically making it impossible to game plan for fighting him.

With two styles both rooted in pressure, these two men will meet in the middle of the octagon. One man will rise up to the challenge, the other falling short of a UFC championship belt. There will be a clear best middleweight in the world come Saturday night

https://twitter.com/UFC_AUSNZ/status/1747472006650704034

How to Watch

Early Pre-Lims: 6:30 p.m.

Pre-Lims: 8 p.m.

Main Card: 10 p.m.

You can watch UFC 297 on ESPN+ pay-per-view.