UFC 296 ended the 2023 calendar year out strong. Now, UFC 297 is expected to start UFC's 2024 pay-per-view schedule off hot. Sean Strickland is one of the most polarizing fighters in the UFC, and his title bout against Dricus du Plessis is highly anticipated. Tensions have been high between these two for a long time, and in this article, we are going to explain how you can watch their fight at UFC 297.

When and where is UFC 297?

UFC 297 will be on Saturday, January 20th. The fights will take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It will be the seventh time the UFC has gone to Toronto, but the first time since UFC 231. The early prelims will start at 6:30 p.m. ET, while the prelims will begin at 8 p.m. ET. The main card starts at 10 p.m. ET.

How to watch UFC 297

UFC 297 is a pay-per-view event, so you can only catch it by paying for it on ESPN+. The prelims will be on ESPN+ and ESPNEWS, while the early prelims will be on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.

Date: Saturday, Jan. 20 | Time: 10 p.m. ET (main card)

Location: Scotiabank Arena — Toronto, Canada

How to watch: ESPN+ PPV

Odds: Strickland -138

UFC 297 fight card

Main card: 

Middleweight: Sean Strickland (C) vs. Dricus du Plessis, title bout (main event)

Women's bantamweight: Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva, title bout

Welterweight: Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott

Middleweight: Christ Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault

Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev

Prelims: 

Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield

Featherweight: Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson

Bantamweight: Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras

Women's strawweight: Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana

Early Prelims: 

Welterweight: Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson

Women's flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira

Flyweight: Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick

Main event

Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis in fighting pose for UFC 297

When there is lots of hatred and trash talk outside of the octagon in the UFC, it tends to make bouts between fighters super hyped up. That is the case for the main event of UFC 297. Sean Strickland was already a polarizing fighter due to his unorthodox fighting style and straight-to-the-point delivery in his tras -talking. He then shocked the world when he won his title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Strickland became the middleweight champion after one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. He won his belt with excellent defense and strategic timing. Strickland uses the Philly shell stance, and he was great at limiting Adesanya's striking, especially when it came to kicks. Even with great defense, Strickland still likes to be aggressive, putting opponents on their heels.

This will be an interesting matchup because Driscus du Plessis is also an aggressive fighter, and the two will likely want to take each other's heads off after an intense build-up to this fight. During a press conference at UFC 296, the two exchanged a number of words. The champion can usually take it as well as he dishes it, but Strickland took exception when du Plessis reminded him of his rough upbringing. Strickland has since said he would stab du Plessis if his opponent crossed that line again.

Additionally, the two were already involved in a brawl outside of the octagon. They were seated closely together at UFC 296, with Strickland jumping over a row of seats to attack du Plessis after they exchanged words. These two fighters clearly don't like each other, and that, along with their fighting styles, will make for an entertaining battle.

Other UFC 297 storylines

The depth of the fight cards at UFC 299 and UFC 300 means the fights before the main event won't be the best we have ever seen, but there is still plenty to look forward to. The middleweight bout between Strickland and du Plessis won't be the only one for a title at UFC 297. Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will fight it out for the women's bantamweight championship. The women's bantamweight belt was one of two that Amanda Nunes vacated when she retired, and Pennington and Bueno Silva will fight for the right to be called champion.

Neil Magny is the 13th-ranked fighter in the welterweight division. Magny has been a consistent presence at the bottom of the top-15 in the division over the last decade, and he even has the most wins in the history of the welterweight division. His opponent is Mike Malott, a 10-1 fighter who is perfect thus far during his time in the UFC. Fighting out of Canada, Malott is on the cusp of entering the top-15 in the division, but he will need to beat Magny to do so.

The bout between Chris Curtis and Marc-Andre Barriault is another fight that could create some change at the bottom of the rankings. Curtis is currently ranked 14th in the middleweight division, while Barriault is 16-6. Barriault is the other Canadian fighting in his home country on the main card. Six other Canadians will be fighting in the prelims/early prelims.

Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev will also be fighting on the main card. Allen is 19-2 in the UFC and ranked fourth in the featherweight division. He won his first 10 UFC fights before he wasn't able to beat Max Holloway. Evloev is ranked ninth. He is 17-0 in MMA and is riding a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC.