Fighting out of Anaheim, California, United States, “Tarzan” Sean Strickland, 32, has been the middleweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship since September 10, 2023. He is set to defend the title for the first time.
On January 20, 2024, “Stillknocks” Dricus du Plessis, 29, of Hatfield, Pretoria, South Africa will challenge Strickland in the main event of “UFC 297” in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The specific venue and the other fights on the card have yet to be announced.
Currently, du Plessis holds a professional mixed martial arts record of 20 wins and 2 losses. He is 6’0″ tall.
Strickland has 28 wins and 5 losses. He is 6’1″ tall.
Dricus du Plessis
Born in Hatfield, du Plessis studied agricultural economics at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. He is a second-degree black belt in kickboxing.
On July 25, 2013, du Plessis made his professional MMA debut. On October 11, 2020, he made his UFC debut.
“UFC 297” marks du Plessis’s seventh UFC fight. He defeated all of his seven previous opponents in the promotion namely Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till, Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker.
Sean Strickland
While Strickland was born in Anaheim, he grew up in Corona, California. He is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
On March 22, 2008, Strickland made his professional MMA debut. On March 15, 2014, he made his UFC debut.
On September 10, 2023, Strickland challenged then UFC Middleweight Champion “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya, 34, of Auckland, New Zealand at “UFC 293” at the Qudos Band Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The challenger from Anaheim won via unanimous decision.
CONAN Daily 