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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is primed and ready to stage UFC 297 this Saturday night (Jan. 20, 2024) inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, marking the promotion’s first event of the year.

Initially, a lot of fans (and fighters themselves) were left unsatisfied with the lineup because it didn’t exactly scream blockbuster despite having two title fights, as Sean Strickland defends his Middleweight belt against Dricus du Plessis, while Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva fight for the vacant women’s Bantamweight title.

While it remains to be seen just how many people will fork over the coin to watch it on pay-per-view (PPV), Canadian fans were eager to watch a live UFC event in person for the first time in a long time. And they came out in droves to buy tickets.

According to UFC CEO, Dana White, the ESPN+-streamed PPV event is already a sell out, and has broken the record for highest announced gate at the arena previously held by UFC 140, which featured Jon Jones defending his Light Heavyweight belt against Lyoto Machida.

UFC 140 also featured a co-main event that saw Frank Mir snap Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm, while Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira battled it out in main card action. Of course, ticket prices have been inflated over the past decade (just look at this), so it’s not exactly a fair comparison.

Strickland and du Plessis have done their part to hype up and sell the fight/event, and their brawl at UFC 296 definitely helped the cause. This, despite the fact that the two men have been nothing but cordial toward with one another during fight week.

Stab threats aside, of course.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNEWS at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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The fourth episode of UFC 297 Embedded features Dricus du Plessis getting photographed by his girlfriend, Jasmine Jasudavicius and Gillian Robertson appearing at a local hockey game, Sean Strickland sparring with Edmen Shahbazyan on fight week, Raquel Pennington doing media rounds, an emotional Mayra Bueno Silva getting made up by her mom, and more.

UFC 297 takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

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Sean Strickland got an unexpected visit from an overzealous fan during Thursday’s UFC 297 media scrum.

On Saturday night, Strickland will put his middleweight world title on the line for the very first time as he meets South African finisher Dricus Du Plessis in the evening’s main event. 48 hours ahead of their highly anticipated title tilt, Strickland and ‘Stillknocks’ were addressing members of the press at a pre-fight conference when a fan decided to rush the stage in hopes of shaking Strickland’s hand.

The unidentified individual was detained and removed from the stage within seconds of making his way on camera, but as seen in the above video embeds, it was all relatively harmless. Even UFC CEO Dana White couldn’t help, but smile as Strickland almost appeared to be flattered by the fan’s gesture.

Strickland dubbed the fan a ‘savage’ as he was carted away by security staff.

The 185-pound king received an overwhelmingly positive response from the Canadian crowd, particularly after he echoed many of their concerns regarding the current state of Canada’s government and contentious Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Watch the full UFC 297 press conference below:

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Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis squared off after a raucous UFC 297 press conference in Toronto in which a fan charged the stage for a handshake with Strickland.

Strickland didn’t hold eye contact with du Plessis after promising a fight “to the death” with the South African challenger. But at no point was there worry about violence after du Plessis’ earlier comments drew a stabbing threat from Strickland.

UFC 297 takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The co-main event features a women’s bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva as they fight for the vacant belt.

Pennington and Bueno Silva got into a verbal sparring match, with Silva calling Pennington a boring fighter and Pennington firing back.

With all of the verbal fireworks – mostly from Strickland – the audience ate everything up, drowning out questions from the media as they yelled their approval. One fan got very carried away and introduced himself to the middleweight champ onstage.

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The fighters competing on this weekend’s UFC 297 fight card at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto will field questions from the media about their upcoming bouts.  

UFC 297 is headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Sean Strickland and second-ranked Dricus Du Plessis.  The vacant women’s bantamweight title is on the line in the co-main event.  Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva clash for the vacant strap. 

UFC 297 Pre-Fight Press Conference 

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