Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis turned out to be a controversial affair. While Dricus du Plessis emerged as the new UFC middleweight champion, it did not come without blemish.
After five rounds of back-and-forth action, many fans felt Strickland did enough to defend his championship gold, including UFC President Dana White, who did not look too happy about the judges’ scorecards.
After 5 rounds @DricusDuPlessis gets the split decision and is YOUR NEW middleweight champion 🏆#UFC297 pic.twitter.com/xyR1Bsn2Fa
— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2024
Dana White felt Sean Strickland won the last round, and on his scorecard, the fight was 2-2 going into the 5th. Here’s what he had to say.
“I had it 2-2 going into the last round, and I thought Strickland won the last round.” White further added, “It was a close fight; I thought Strickland looked great in the first two rounds. The jab was f***ing beautiful. You don’t see jabs like that in MMA.”
The final scorecard read 47-48,47-48, and 48-47 in the favour of Dricus du Plessis. Some fans have even gone on to say Strickland was robbed off a victory at UFC 297.
Dana White comments on Dricus du Plessis vs Sean Strickland rematch
According to UFC stats, Strickland connected a total of 173 significant strikes compared to Dricus du Plessis’ 137. Surprisingly, Strickland landed more strikes in each of the rounds except Round 2.
However, it shouldn’t go without ignoring the fact that Du Plessis took him down six times during the course of the fight. While Du Plessis could not control Strickland as we all expected, the South African fighter managed to land some nasty kicks and elbows. He connected 32 body kicks and 24 leg kicks over Strickland’s 10 and 6.
#UFC297 Official Scorecard: Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis 👇
All Scorecards ➡️: https://t.co/Dgf6RIXYJN pic.twitter.com/RdzXOrtCV6
— UFC News (@UFCNews) January 21, 2024
Looking at how close the fight went, there are obviously questions about a potential rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland. However, it looks like we won’t see both of these fighters compete against each other anytime soon. Dana White denied any possibility of an immediate rematch during the UFC 297 post-fight press conference.
“We are not thinking about a rematch right now.” He said. With many exciting options, White says he is even looking at South Africa this year with Dricus du Plessis becoming the Champion. And a rematch with Strickland might not make sense for the UFC head honcho.