Dricus du Plessis, South Africa's first UFC champion. (UFC Media)
The first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) pay-per-view of 2024 saw the Octagon return to Toronto for the first time since December 2018 and featured nine Canadians as well as a pair of title fights.
Dricus Du Plessis became South Africa’s first champion with a split decision defeat of Sean Strickland, and Raquel Pennington outhustled Mayra Bueno Silva to claim the vacant bantamweight crown.
Throughout the rest of the card, hotly contested fights decorated the card, including a meaningful featherweight contest between Movsar Evloev and a classic comeback effort from Neil Magny.
Fight of the Night: Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis
South Africa got its first champion as Dricus Du Plessis battled Sean Strickland and got the split decision nod. The first round looked like a classic Strickland fight as the champ landed his jab at will, but Du Plessis saw success as well and mixed in grappling with great success.
Although Du Plessis seemed to struggle finding his range, he consistently landed high kicks and body kicks until finally scoring with his hands.
Eventually, Du Plessis gave Strickland a nasty cut on his left eye that seemed to bother the champion, but Strickland still bounced back to win the fifth round on all the judges’ scorecards.
Du Plessis did enough, however, in the middle trio of rounds to get the decision and showed he can very much implement his awkward style at the highest level over the course of five rounds.
Du Plessis defeated Strickland by split decision: 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47.
