Sean Strickland’s first middleweight title defense won’t come against Khamzat Chimaev as originally anticipated.
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UFC CEO Dana White announced Monday that Strickland will face Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event. While Chimaev defeated Kamaru Usman in what was billed as a title eliminator at UFC 294 on Oct. 21, “Borz” might not be ready to compete in January after suffering a torn ligament in his hand during the bout.UFC 297 takes place on Jan. 20 in Toronto and will also see Raquel Pennington square off against Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women’s bantamweight title.
Du Plessis was initially supposed to face then-champion Israel Adesanya in a grudge match at UFC 293, but the South African standout was not healthy enough to fight at the event. That opened the door for Strickland, who took a surprising five-round verdict against “The Last Stylebender” to claim 185-pound gold in Sydney on Sept. 9. Strickland has won nine of his las…