[
The night came to a close with the first UFC title change of the year when Dricus Du Plessis edged Sean Strickland by split decision to claim the middleweight championship in a hotly contested affair.
Sitting cageside, I thought Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) won the fight, and relatively clearly at that. I gave him Round 2, Round 3 and Round 4, but that was without the benefit of the broadcast perspective, which often provides a much better vantage point on the action than sitting just outside the octagon walls.
If someone thinks Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) won, which seems to be the case for many, including UFC CEO Dana White – I’m not going to argue it. Both men were busted up and gave it their all over the course of five rounds, and it came down to some fairly narrow margins.
The end reality, though, is that Du Plessis is the new titleholder at 185 pounds, bringing Strickland’s relatively short, and highly controversial, title reign to an end.
It was certainly an interesting week for Strickland in Toronto. He shredded the Canadian government at every turn, went viral from his media day exchange with MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, and found himself at the centerpiece of a tug-of-rope debate between free speech and hate speech.
I obviously don’t condone many of the nastier messages Strickland verbalized throughout fight week. To me, anyone who has a moral compass and practices basic human decency should understand why many of Strickland’s comments were viewed as heinous. But I’m also not going to act like anything he said wasn’t a variation of comments he already made in the past, or pretend to be surprised or offended by it.
Strickland’s role in the sport, for better or worse, is actually quite fascinating to me. He’s pretty much the complete opposite of what you would craft in your mind as a model champion, and he’s not exactly someone who is racking in blue chip sponsors for the company or himself. Yet somehow, his character has worked perfectly for the 2024 version of the UFC, where leading man White has repeatedly – and did again after this event – made it known his promotion is a place where athletes won’t be censored, or given “a leash” in any way, shape or form.
Dana White thinks Sean Strickland was “baited” in his viral #UFC297 media day exchange with a reporter.
“Free speech. You’re going to control what people say?” pic.twitter.com/gH4NOMtwYn
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 21, 2024
There’s a begrudging level of respect for White in remaining mostly consistent with that stance in recent years, regardless of the negative blowback resulting from the trash someone like Colby Covington or Strickland might spew out of their mouths. Putting him aside, though, it’s hard not to wonder if there will be some relief in the UFC offices Monday knowing Strickland doesn’t represent the company as one of its few champions.
Although Strickland has clearly bonded with a huge chunk of the MMA fanbase, as we’ve seen from his reactions in Sydney and Toronto over the past two fights, there’s a strong case to be made that he’s more trouble than he’s worth. If that wasn’t true, White would have started pushing for an immediate rematch with Du Plessis rather than shutting it down.
Maybe Strickland will find himself in a title fight again in the future. Maybe he will hold that belt again and be that representative. He’s not going to change as a person without the gold around his waist, but the microphone of his messages won’t be quite as loud going forward without the platform of a championship.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
