The UFC is back this Saturday with the first PPV of the year! UFC 297 will take place in Toronto, Canada, and will feature Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis for the Middleweight Title as the main event.

The co-main event sees number 2 and 3 ranked Women’s Bantamweights, Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva, face off for the Vacant Bantamweight Title. Vacated by Amanda Nunes when she retired in June 2023.

Here’s what to expect:

In the main event, it’s a veteran vs. prospect match-up. Sean Strickland has been in the UFC for nearly a decade now and his resume includes all-time greats like Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, and Kamaru Usman. Du Plessis has amassed an impressive 6-fight win streak over almost exclusively top middleweight contenders. Including a TKO win over former champion Robert Whittaker, earning him a title shot. Strickland’s heavy boxing, ‘Philly Shell’, the style has caused issues for many top-level strikers in the division. Including former champion Israel Adesanya.

However, the question is, will Du Plessis’ well-rounded MMA style combined with his pressure be enough to break Strickland’s seemingly unbeatable defense?

Pennington vs. Bueno Silva will be the first championship matchup of 2024 for the UFC. However, the match-up isn’t very well hyped by fans. But despite that, Bueno Silva has looked like a dangerous project in recent years. On the other hand, her opponent, Raquel Pennington, is a veteran of the sport on a 5-fight winning streak, who has been in the UFC for a decade. Her resume includes Amanda Nunes, Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, and Jessica Andrade. Despite the disregard from fans, the winner of this fight will win in great fashion and have an amazing performance.

Opening the main card will be a high stakes match-up in the Featherweight between top ranked contenders, Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev. Evloev is undefeated at 17-0 with 7 wins in the UFC. The English prospect Arnold Allen is 10-1 in the UFC. With his only loss coming to former champion and all-time great, Max Holloway. This fight has the potential to be a fight of the night contender, so make sure to tune in in time for the main card.

Other notable fights on this card include Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott. Malott fights for a spot in the Welterweight rankings against #13-ranked Magny.

UFC 297 Prelims:

Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield is the featured prelim. Katona is coming off winning Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter back in August. He is a two-time TUF winner. He’s facing New prospect Armfield in his return to the UFC.

Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana. Both fighters are coming off losses to very promising prospects, but despite that, these two are incredibly exciting fighters. Robertson has 10 finishes out of her 12 wins and Viana has a 100% finish rate, with 13 wins and 13 finishes.

In the States, the event’s early prelims start at 6:30pm EST on UFC Fight Pass. With the PPV main card starting at 10:00pm EST on ESPN+. The opening PPV of 2024 is sure to be a fun card. Filled with drama and solid match-ups throughout the card.

Will we leave Canada with a new Middleweight Champion? Tune in to see.