MMA Fans Show Mixed Emotion Towards UFC 297 Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis Card Getting Jan Blachowicz vs. Ivan Rakic 2 and More Bouts Included

The UFC has come up with the fight card for UFC 297, which is scheduled to take place on January 21, 2024. The card will feature Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis for the UFC middleweight strap. Strickland won the gold against Israel Adesanya dominantly at UFC 293. But he will be going up against an absolute tank in Dricus Du Plessis.

Dricus Du Plessis is one of the most dangerous middleweight prospects at the moment. ‘Stillknocks’ has been on a tear ever since he joined the promotion. Du Plessis has won all six of his fights in the promotion with only one of them six going to a unanimous decision. So we can clearly say that the main event speaks for itself. However, the rest of the card has received mixed reactions from the fans. But what does the card look like? Let’s find out.

Fight card for UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis

The main card features an explosive roster. The main event is Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis. The co-main features Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for the UFC women’s bantamweight strap. The main card also features veteran Neil Magny vs. up-and-comer Mike Malott in the welterweight division.

That’s not all, as the former UFC light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz will go up against Aleksandar Rakic. And to start the card off, Arnold Allen will be up against undefeated prospect Movsar Evloev.

The preliminary card will start with featherweight contenders Charles Jourdain and Sean Woodson. The middleweight fight features Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault. For the co-main event of the preliminary fight, Brad Katona goes up against Garrett Armfield. Finally, the main event of the UFC 297 prelims will feature a bout between former title challenger Dominick Reyes and Carlos Ulberg, who is on a 5-fight winning streak.

The fight card definitely has the potential to deliver amazing fights for the fans. However, to be honest there are not many big names on the card. This caused fans to take up social media to share their mixed reactions.

Fans react to the UFC 297 fight card

After the fights were announced, fight fans had mixed reactions to the card. Given that it did not feature big names, leaving aside the main event, some fans believed the cards wouldn’t sell much in terms of PPVs. The following are some of the fan reactions:

The fight card prompted some mixed responses; however, the matchups may turn out to be quite intense. We can agree that Strickland and Du Plessis are carrying the card. But MMA is unpredictable and the other fights may turn out to be really explosive as well.

Also Read: After Conor McGregor, Alex Pereira Is Perfectly Capable of Becoming the Next Face of the UFC

The fight card certainly brought in some talk among the MMA fanbase. If you were to pick one, who would be your fighter to look out for? Let us know in the comment section below.

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