Sean Strickland puts the UFC middleweight championship on the line in the first pay-per-view of the year as he takes on Dricus Du Plessis in the main event at UFC 297 in Toronto on Saturday (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV, with prelims at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS/ESPN+ and early prelims at 6:30 on ESPN+).
Strickland (28-5), ranked No. 5 in ESPN's division rankings, will have his first title defense Saturday after beating Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision at UFC 293 to claim the title. Du Plessis (20-2), ranked ahead of Strickland at No. 2, is undefeated inside the Octagon. He finished each of his past three opponents.
In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington will face Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women's bantamweight title. Pennington (15-9), ESPN's No. 1-ranked bantamweight, enters the fight riding a five-fight win streak. Bueno Silva (10-2-1), unranked by ESPN, has submission wins over two of her past three opponents.
Marc Raimondi spoke to Fight Ready MMA coach Santino De Franco to get his perspective on the UFC main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis on the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the card.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.