Dricus Du
Plessis stepped around Sean
Strickland to plant his flag at the top of the mountain.
The 30-year-old South African captured the undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown with a
hard-fought split decision over Strickland in the
UFC 297 headliner on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
All three cageside judges scored it 48-47: Sal D’Amato for
Strickland, Derek Cleary and Eric Colon
for Du Plessis.
Advertisement
It was close for the duration. Strickland (28-6, 15-6 UFC) operated
behind his potent jab and took away the challenger’s low kicks with
exquisite defense. Du Plessis (21-2, 7-0 UFC) struck for takedowns
in the first second and fourth rounds, opened multiple cuts with
clubbing blows upstairs and made it a point to advance on his
upright adversary whenever possible. He did his best work in Round
4, where he executed multiple takedowns and drew blood with a
lunging straight right hand. Strickland kept his foot on the
accelerator across the last five minutes, paired his jab with
crosses, managed to stay upright and mixed in a few kicks to the
body. Ultimately, his final push failed to close the gap on the
scorecards.
Du Plessis now finds himself on a nine-fight winning streak.
Pennington Vanquishes Exhausted Silva
Grueling clinches and a superior gas tank carried Altitude MMA’s
Raquel
Pennington to a unanimous decision over Mayra
Bueno Silva, as she laid claim to the vacant UFC women’s
bantamweight title in the five-round co-main event. Pennington
(16-8, 13-5 UFC), who succeeds the retired Amanda
Nunes as undisputed champion at 135 pounds, swept the
scorecards with 49-46, 49-46 and 49-45 marks from the cageside
judges.
Bueno Silva (10-3-1, 5-3-1 UFC) faded badly after a successful
first round. Pennington connected with the cleaner shots in their
standup exchanges—a Superman punch in Round 4 was perhaps the best
strike of the fight—but made real headway in close quarters. There,
she drained Bueno Silva’s reserves with relentlessness, guile and
high-percentage offense. The American Top Team-trained Brazilian
battled visible exhaustion and understandable frustration in the
championship rounds but still managed to throw a few submissions
Pennington’s way, from a rear-naked choke to an armbar to a
triangle choke. None of it was enough to alter the direction the
bout was headed. Bueno Silva accepted bottom position after a
failed kneebar attempt in the fifth round and did little else other
than survive. Pennington moved on a mounted arm-triangle choke at
one point, then bailed in favor of ground-and-pound. The punches,
elbows and forearm strikes that fell next sealed Bueno Silva’s
fate.
Pennington, 35, has rattled off six straight victories.
Magny Rally Shocks Malott
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny
staged a stunning comeback and put away the heavily favored
Mike
Malott with punches in the third round of their welterweight
showcase. Magny (28-12, 21-11 UFC) drew the curtain 4:45 into Round
3, as he finished a fight with strikes for the first time in more
than five years.
Malott (10-2-1, 3-1 UFC) was in charge for two-plus rounds. The
Canadian tore into Magny with leg kicks, fought at a measured pace
and appeared to turn the corner with high-level grappling. Malott
delivered a pair of takedowns in the second round and eventually
executed a beautiful standing guard pass from side control to full
mount. Drawing upon 40 professional bouts worth of experience,
Magny stayed the course. Malott grounded him twice more in Round 3,
only to see the Elevation Fight Team product spring a reversal,
withstand an attempted guillotine choke and secure a takedown of
his own. Magny then proceeded to expose his counterpart’s lack of
stamina, as he shifted from full mount to the back and let fly with
punches until the job was done.
The setback closed the book on Malott’s six-fight winning
streak.
Crafty Curtis Edges Barriault
Xtreme Couture’s Chris
Curtis called upon effective counters and damaging dirty boxing
in a contentious split decision over former two-division TKO Major
League MMA champion Marc-Andre
Barriault in a three-round middleweight feature. Judges
Eric
Colon and Declan Woods struck 30-27 scorecards for Curtis,
while Derek Cleary scored it 29-28 for Barriault.
Neither man seized the initiative through the first 10 minutes, the
natives growing restless with the perceived lack of meaningful
activity. Curtis (31-10, 5-2 UFC) opened multiple cuts on the
Canadian—one across the bridge of the nose, another above the right
eyebrow—and seemed to find another gear when it mattered most. He
engaged Barriault (16-7, 5-6 UFC) at close range in a number of
third-round exchanges, attacking the body and head with equal
aplomb.
The victory was Curtis’ first since Dec. 10, 2022.
Unbeaten Evloev Downs Allen
Former M-1 Global champion Movsar
Evloev kept his perfect professional record intact and moved
ever closer to title contention at 145 pounds with a unanimous
decision over Arnold
Allen in their three-round featherweight appetizer. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Evloev (18-0, 8-0
UFC), who has gone the distance in all eight of his UFC
appearances.
Allen (19-3, 10-2 UFC) oftentimes looked like a man who was caught
in the no man’s land between offense and defense. Evloev used the
ever-present threat of the takedown to keep the Tristar Gym export
at bay for much of the match. He staggered Allen with a stiff jab
in the second round and followed it with a sweeping right hook that
opened a serious horizontal gash under his left eye. Those efforts
afforded him some wiggle room in Round 3. There, Allen cut off the
American Top Team rep with a front headlock and then uncorked three
illegal knees to the side of the head, one of which drew a steady
stream of blood. After a brief pause to the action and a warning
from referee Marc
Goddard, he caught an oncoming Evloev in a ninja choke in a bid
to turn the tide. The unshakable Russian scrambled free, extricated
himself from danger and rode out the remaining time.
The 29-year-old Allen has suffered consecutive defeats for the
first time in his 22-fight career.
Continue Reading »
UFC 297 Prelims: Gillian Robertson Stops Polyana Viana