This might have been the most wild build-up to a UFC card since the promotion took Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo on an international tour prior to their bout for the featherweight title in 2015.
It began at a news conference in Las Vegas on Dec. 15 and ended with an epic battle in the main event of UFC 297 on Saturday at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where Dricus Du Plessis edged Sean Strickland by a split decision to win the middleweight championship.
Strickland and Du Plessis nearly came to blows at a news conference in Las Vegas on Dec. 15 when they began talking about their childhoods. Du Plessis commented on alleged abuse committed by Strickland's late father, and it triggered Strickland. They had to be separated at the news conference, and then the next night, during the main card of UFC 296, they brawled in the stands.
Later, Strickland said he'd stab Du Plessis if he continued that line of talk. They shook hands in the lobby of the fighter hotel when they bumped into each other and were largely cordial with each other in their public appearances together.
At media day on Wednesday, Strickland blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, blasted the women's title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva that served as Saturday's co-main event and suggested reporters could beat the fighters up; and sparred with a reporter over a question the reporter tried to ask about previous comments Strickland had made about LGBTQ issues.
The next day, at the final news conference, Strickland congratulated Du Plessis for getting under his skin with his comments , and then suggested they have a fight to the death. The reaction was intense, and Strickland's face was all over TV in Canada and reporters and gay rights groups were up in arms.
The UFC crowd, though, clearly loved him and roared its approval when he made the ring walk and chanted his name during the fight.
Though Strickland clearly has strong right wing views, a lot of his comments seemed contrived and designed to get a rise and garner attention. That was certainly the case with the t-shirt he wore to media, which said, "A woman in evry kitchen, a gun in every hand. Sean Strickland 2024"
As it turned out, though, the fight was a classic that got plenty of attention on its own.
Strickland fought brilliantly, but couldn't defend the takedown and wasn't able to back Du Plessis up. Du Plessis became the first South African champion and combined with Strickland to create a memorable event. No one was asking for a refund after that bout ended. Judges Derek Cleary and Eric Colon had it 48-47 for du Plessis, while Sal D'Amato had it 48-47 for Strickland.
KevinIole.com had it 48-47 for Du Plessis, though one could not have argued however the decision went. They fought at a high pace and with bravery, smarts and intensity. It was a brilliant display of mixed martial arts.
Post-fight, though, a fair bit of the attention returned to the pre-fight antics, particularly Strickland's incendiary words. Asked if he felt he should have toned down the trash talk, UFC CEO Dana White scowled.
"I don't tell anybody to do anything," White said. "I don't try to control any other human beings in any way, shape or form. They do what they want. I say it all the time. We're in the fight business and if you get your feelings hurt that bad [by what someone says], you probably shouldn't ask that type of question. You know the kind of answer you're going to get from Strickland. Let's start there. You know who he is. He was baited in that question."
White has always had that stance and never deviated from it an iota and he didn't again on Saturday. He said he had no complaints from or discussions with any of his business partners about it, including ESPN.
The way the fight delivered provided a happy ending in that the focus could be more on the Fight of the Night battle they put on than on all which had occurred in the build-up. Du Plessis said at the post-fight news conference he felt he'd won, but was worried when the first score was read and went for Strickland.
"When they said, 'And new,' it felt like 15 years of work, of dreaming, of sacrificing everything came together in one single sentence," Du Plessis said. "It's incredible. It feels surreal. It's amazing."
Du Plessis is now 21-2 overall in mixed martial arts and is 7-0 in the UFC. He's still not widely known by the wider fan base, but he made himself a bigger name on Saturday after that performance. Strickland was on top of his game and yet Du Plessis still managed to come out on top. That was impressive.
Strickland, of course, has developed into one of the promotion's biggest stars for his aggressive fight style and his willingness to say anything about anyone at any time in any place. He curses so much that one sports book, BetOnline.ag, put up odds on how often he'd say f*ck and in what form he'd first use it.
The over/under was six F-bombs and he blew through that in one answer.
The loss won't hurt his star power even a little bit, and a rematch with du Plessis is almost guaranteed to do huge business. Controversy sells and there was plenty of it before UFC 297. Fortunately, there was little during it.
Yeah, there were some who felt Strickland deserved to win -- White was among those, and he said he had it 3-2 for Strickland -- but the fight was so close it was hard to argue the scores either way.
White said he isn't sure about a rematch, and Du Plessis called out former champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday.
Strickland had facial cuts and Du Plessis had a badly swollen eye. Most likely, they won't be ready to rematch at UFC 300, which is on April 13 in Las Vegas.
Don't be shocked, though, if a rematch isn't made to headline International Fight Week in July. That would give the bout the platform the fight Saturday suggested it deserves.