UFC 297 Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis -- live results and analysis

UFC 297 Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis — live results and analysis،

TORONTO — Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis fought in the crowd last month in Las Vegas. This weekend, they get into the Octagon in earnest against each other.

Strickland will defend his UFC middleweight title against Du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297 on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. The two got into a heated exchange at a press conference in December, then fought in the stands at UFC 296.

This week has been mostly devoid of any drama between the two men, who have a mutual respect for each other. The beef may have been crushed, but the punches will be legit Saturday night.

ESPN places Du Plessis at number two and Strickland at number five in the world at middleweight.

Strickland (28-5) pulled off a major upset over then-champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September, winning by one-sided unanimous decision. The California native, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, has won three straight. Strickland, 32, has won nine of his last 11 fights. Du Plessis (20-2) has won eight straight and has a perfect 6-0 record in the UFC. The South African fighter stopped former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker via TKO last July at UFC 290. Du Plessis, 30, is a former EFC and K.S.W.

In the co-main event of UFC 297, Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will compete for the vacant UFC women's bantamweight title. Amanda Nunes, the division's longtime champion and best female MMA fighter of all time, retired last June, leaving the belt without an owner. Pennington (15-8), a 35-year-old Colorado native, has won five straight. Bueno Silva (10-2-1, 1 NC), a 32-year-old Brazilian fighting out of Florida, defeated Holly Holm by submission in her last fight in July, but the victory was overturned as a no contest following a Bueno Silva. failed drug test for prescribed medications.

Also on the schedule, Canadian Mike Malott will face Neil Magny in a welterweight bout, Arnold Allen will face Movsar Evloev in an important featherweight clash and Chris Curtis will face Marc-André Barriault in a middleweight action fighter clash.

Follow Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim and Dre Waters recap the action as it happens or watch the fights live on ESPN+ PPV.