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Matt Erickson

UFC 297: How to watch Strickland vs. Du Plessis and Pennington vs. Silva title fights, start time, Toronto fight card, odds, more

The UFC’s first pay-per-view event of 2024 goes down Saturday in Toronto.

Here’s how to watch UFC 297 with the middleweight and vacant women’s bantamweight titles on the line at the top of the card.

Broadcast and streaming info

Jon Anik, Laura Sanko, Daniel Cormier | UFC 293 commentary team

UFC 297 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (via ESPN+). The four-fight prelim card airs on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET, and three early prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Main event: Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will put his middleweight title on the line for the first time since he upset Israel Adesanya in Australia this past fall. Across from him will be Dricus Du Plessis, who started as a major rival of Adesanya, but now is embattled with Strickland both outside and soon to be within the cage. Strickland has three straight wins and is a slight favorite.

Main event: Dricus Du Plessis

Jul 8, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Dricus Du Plessis (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Robert Whittaker (red gloves) during UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Dricus Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has been on a tear since he arrived in the UFC in late 2020. He’s won all six of his UFC fights, including five by stoppage, and eight straight overall. If he wins in a mild upset, he’ll be the first South African champion in UFC history.

Co-main event: Raquel Pennington

Raquel Pennington

Raquel Pennington (15-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) gets her second shot at a UFC title when she takes on Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant bantamweight belt. Pennington challenged then-champ Amanda Nunes for the belt in 2018, but was stopped with a fifth-round TKO. That set off a stretch of three losses in four fights, but she has five straight wins now and will go after the 135-pound title Nunes vacated when she retired. Amazingly, all five of Pennigton’s UFC losses have been to future champions (Holly Holm, Jessica Andrade), former champions (Germaine de Randamie and Holm again), or the champ herself (Nunes).

Co-main event: Mayra Bueno Silva

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 15: Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil battles Holly Holm in their women’s bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night at UFC APEX on July 15, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) officially brings three straight wins into her first UFC title shot. She has bonuses in two of those three fights. She beat ex-champ Holly Holm in July 2023, but it was overturned to a no contest after a failed USADA test.

UFC debut: Serhiy Sidey

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 05: Serhiy Sidey of Ukraine reacts after his victory over Ramon Taveras in a bantamweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season seven, week five at UFC APEX on September 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Serhiy Sidey (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his UFC debut in front of his home fans in Canada. The bantamweight takes on fellow debutant Ramon Taveras on the preliminary card. The 27-year-old punched his ticket to the UFC with a first-round KO of Ramon Tavares at Dana White’s Contender Series this past September. It was his sixth straight win. Now he gets Tavares again in a quick rematch. UFC CEO Dana White thought Tavares was shut down too early by the ref in the first fight.

UFC debut: Ramon Taveras

Ramon Taveras def. Cortavious Romious DWCS 66

Ramon Taveras (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) fought on DWCS and was put away by Serhiy Sidey this past September. Many thought it was an early stoppage, including Dana White, who had Tavares back on DWCS five weeks later – and he delivered a 29-second KO. White quickly announced a rematch with Sidey in the UFC.

UFC 297 main card betting odds

Arnold Allen

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Sean Strickland (-130) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (+115) – for middleweight title
  • Raquel Pennington (+140) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (-165) – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
  • Neil Magny (+205) vs. Mike Malott (-250)
  • Marc-Andre Barriault (+140) vs. Chris Curtis (-165)
  • Arnold Allen (+140) vs. Movsar Evloev (-165)

UFC 297 prelim betting odds

Jun 24, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Tabatha Ricci (red gloves) fights Gillian Robertson (blue gloves) in a women strawweight bout during UFC Fight Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Garrett Armfield (+260) vs. Brad Katona (-190)
  • Charles Jourdain (-175) vs. Sean Woodson (+135)
  • Serhiy Sidey (N/A) vs. Ramon Taveras (N/A)
  • Gillian Robertson (-190) vs. Polyana Viana (+160)

UFC 297 early prelim betting odds

Jun 10, 2023; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Jasmine Jasudavicius reacts before fighting Miranda Maverick during UFC 289 at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

  • Yohan Lainesse (N/A) vs. Sam Patterson (N/A)
  • Priscila Cachoeira (+275) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (-345)
  • Jimmy Flick (+100) vs. Malcolm Gordon (-120)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

UFC 297 Countdown: Pennington vs. Bueno Silva

UFC 297 Countdown: Strickland vs. Du Plessis

UFC 297 preview with Fitzgerald, Saud

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