Now that the rollercoaster which was last night’s UFC 297 card is behind us, it’s a good time to detail the UFC 297 results, and see what we learned from the fights and fighters who stole the show.
Not only do we have two new champions crowned, but the UFC results showed that some stars were born last night, some current stars’ ascents stalled, and some potential stars that many people believed would take their next step at UFC last night didn’t do so. With so much to recap from UFC 297, let’s get right into it!
UFC 297 Results: Five Things We Learned
1. Dricus Du Plessis Deserves His Flowers
The UFC middleweight division now has a new champion, as Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland by split decision in a back-and-forth war that was the UFC 297 main event. With the win, Du Plessis becomes the first South African born champion in UFC history.
While the championship bout was extremely close and could have been scored either way, there’s no question that Du Plessis proved his championship mettle with the UFC results last night.
With the Du Plessis era now underway, it seems that the former longtime middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has a great opportunity to fight for his old belt once again.
2. The Women’s Bantamweight Division Still Misses Amanda Nunes
At UFC 297, we also saw Raquel Pennington get crowned as the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion in the co-main event — in what was a rather unexciting fight from start to finish.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this co-main event fight was that the UFC’s former 135-pound queen Amanda Nunes was watching in the stands. While Nunes seems content in retirement, it’s strange seeing a new champion at women’s bantamweight — especially because it’s Pennington, who Nunes dominated in a title fight a few years back.
The co-main event was also a disappointing showing for Mayra Bueno Silva, who showed that she isn’t ready to be a champion.
3. Canadian Male Fighters Struggled In The Spotlight
When the UFC returned to Canada in June 2023 for the first time in over four years, Canadian fighters on that UFC 289 card went a perfect 6-0 on the evening.
The UFC results last night in Toronto, however, was a different story.
Canadian fighters on UFC 297 went 2-7 on the evening, including male fighters going 0-7. Perhaps most disappointing of all was the third to last fight of the night, when Mike Malott — who many consider to be Canada’s best prospect — gassed out in the third round of a fight he was clearly winning, and ultimately got finished by Neil Magny, via TKO.
While Canadian female fighters Jasmine Jasudavicius and Gillian Robertson both produced excellent performances (and earned Performance of the Night bonuses as a result), UFC 297 wasn’t a great night overall for Canadian fighters.
4. Chris Curtis Can Stand and Bang With Anybody
In one of the more thrilling bouts of the evening, UFC 297 saw Chris Curtis and Marc-André Barriault stand in the pocket and exchange punches for three straight rounds.
We predicted that Curtis would win in a bout that turned out to be exactly like we imagined — and Curtis’ excitement during his post-fight speech definitely won him some fans, even though he defeated a Canadian fighter.
Considering that there’s no clear featherweight contender after Alex Volkanovski faces Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 next month, it seems that Evloev’s performance last night put him next in line for a title shot.
Regardless of whether a title bout is up next for him, Evloev is a terrifying prospect, and could remain undefeated for a long time.
UFC Results Last Night: Everything You Need to Know
With the five biggest storylines now detailed, here are the complete UFC results last night:
Main Card
Middleweight: Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis — Du Plessis won via split decision
Women’s Bantamweight: Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva — Pennington won via unanimous decision
Welterweight: Neil Magny vs Mike Malott — Magny won via third-round TKO
Middleweight: Chris Curtis vs Marc-André Barriault — Curtis won via split decision
Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs Movsar Evloev — Evloev won via unanimous decision
Prelims:
Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs Garrett Armfield — Armfield won via unaimous decision
Featherweight: Charles Jourdain vs Sean Woodson — Woodson won via split decision
Bantamweight: Serhiy Sidey vs Ramon Taveras — Taveras won via split decision
This bout between Sidey and Taveras could have gone either way, and was one of the most exciting fights of the night.
Women’s Strawweight: Gillian Robertson vs Polyana Viana — Robertson won via second-round TKO
Early Prelims:
Welterweight: Yohan Lainesse vs Sam Patterson — Patterson won via first-round submission
Women’s Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Priscila Cachoeira — Jasudavicius won via third-round submission
Jasudavicius set a new record for the biggest strike differential in women’s UFC history in this fight, out-landing Cachoeira by a incredible margin of 326-26.
Flyweight: Malcolm Gordon vs Jimmy Flick — Flick won via second-round submission
Grant Young is a sports writer from San Francisco. He has had two professional Muay Thai fights: he got knocked out in one, and got a knockout in the other. When it comes to his favorite fighters, it's Israel Adesanya, and then it's everyone else.
