The poster for the first UFC pay-per-view card of 2024 has now been revealed, with a pair of title fights headed to Toronto, Canada on Jan. 20.
The middleweight title will go up for grabs at UFC 297 when Sean Strickland clashes with Dricus du Plessis in the main event, while a new women’s bantamweight champion will be crowned when Mayra Bueno Silva takes on Raquel Pennington in the co-headliner.
Check out the UFC 297 poster below.
Strickland makes the first defense of his middleweight title after pulling off a shocking upset with a win over Israel Adesanya in September. Despite entering the fight as a massive underdog, Strickland dominated the fight and ultimately earned a lopsided five-round decision to beat Adesanya and claim the championship.
Meanwhile, du Plessis comes into the fight off eight straight wins, including six in the UFC. Most recently, the South African fighter took out ex-UFC champion Robert Whittaker in impressive fashion to solidify himself as the No. 1 contender in the division.
As for the co-main event, Pennington enters the fight off five consecutive wins while making her second attempt at becoming champion. She came up short in her previous bid, falling to Amanda Nunes back 2018, but now she’ll fight for a vacant belt after “The Lioness” announced her retirement in June.
Bueno Silva hasn’t tasted defeat since returning to bantamweight, picking up wins over the likes of Lina Lansberg and Stephanie Egger. She also scored an impressive submission over former UFC champion Holly Holm, however the win was later overturned due to Bueno Silva testing positive for a banned substance.
The current UFC 297 fight card can be seen below, with a bout order still to be determined.
- MAIN EVENT: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis
- CO-MAIN EVENT: Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Raquel Pennington
- Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
- Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
- Dominick Reyes vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
- Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
- Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Tavaras
- Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
- Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira
- Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick.