UFC 297 Odds: Strickland vs. Du Plessis Betting Lines & Full Card Info

UFC 297 goes down on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. This is the first UFC pay-per-view event of 2024, and it will be headlined by a UFC middleweight title fight featuring champion Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

Strickland is at odds of for the first defense of his 185-pound title. The challenger Du Plessis is at .

Full UFC 297 fight card and betting odds information from top online sportsbooks is below.

UFC 297 main event odds and analysis

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis

Strickland (28-5) won the UFC middleweight title in a major upset with a decision victory over Israel Adesanya in September. He was a heavy underdog and something of a backup option for that fight, opening at +300 and closing at +540. Though not known as a powerful striker, Strickland hurt Adesanya early in the fight, then steadily won rounds with his pressure style and his awkward yet deceptively effective defense. Though Strickland has proven to be a competent wrestler in the past, it’s by no means his preferred approach. He’s at his best when he can keep moving forward, pressuring opponents with a high punch output.

Du Plessis (20-2) is in some ways Strickland’s exact opposite. His game is built around explosive power and sudden finishes. Du Plessis has gone the distance just once in his pro career, and that came in a decision victory over the notoriously resilient Brad Tavares in 2022. Though he’s capable of finishing fights with submissions, he relies on his powerful and aggressive striking attack to do most of the work. Du Plessis thrives in chaotic fights, even when it means sometimes walking right up to the line of losing before securing the finish. He’s unbeaten in six fights with the UFC. The most recent was a TKO win over former champ Robert Whittaker in a fight where Du Plessis was a +300 underdog.

UFC 297 main event prop bet odds

Strickland has won more fights by decision than any other method, and three of his last four fights have been decided by the judges. When he does finish fights, it’s almost always via TKO/KO. Strickland has just four career wins by submission, and only one in the UFC.

Du Plessis is very much the opposite, having only been to the scorecards once in his pro career. The bulk of his UFC wins have come via TKO/KO, and the majority of his UFC finishes have come in the second round.

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UFC 297 co-main event odds and analysis

Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva

Pennington (15-8) won five straight fights in order to earn this shot at the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight title. All but one of those wins came via decision, and she currently holds the division record for most fights to end in decision, as well as most wins via unanimous decision.

Bueno Silva (10-2-1) had her recent submission win over former champ Holly Holm overturned due to a positive drug test that she attributed to ADHD medication. The UFC opted to treat that victory as if still stands, which, along with her previous three-fight win streak, landed her in this fight for the vacant title.

UFC 297 co-main event prop bet odds

Pennington has gone to decision in 16 of her 23 pro fights, and has only three wins inside the distance in the UFC. She has only one career win via TKO/KO, and it came in her pro debut against an opponent who was essentially an amateur. Bueno Silva is a submissions specialist, with seven of her 10 professional wins coming via tapout. She doesn’t always fare as well when her fights go to the judges, and she’s currently 2-2-1 overall in fights that end with a judges’ decision.

Method of victory props

Round props

Full UFC 297 card

The table below shows the most recently updated version of the UFC 297 lineup. As always, fight cards are subject to change. Explore more UFC odds.

UFC 297, Jan. 20, Toronto — how to watch

• Early prelims — 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+
• Prelims — 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
• Main card — 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ pay-per-view