Dricus Du Plessis dethrones Sean Strickland in UFC 297 main event - ESPN

TORONTO — The UFC has its first champion from South Africa.

Dricus Du Plessis dethroned Sean Strickland in an entertaining, bloody, back-and-forth fight Saturday night in the main event of UFC 297 here at Scotiabank Arena. The final result was a split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) for Du Plessis. It very easily could have gone Strickland's way, too.

«When they said, 'and new,' it felt like 15 years of work, dreaming and sacrificing came together in one single sentence,» Du Plessis said. «It was incredible, it feels surreal. Amazing.»

Upon the scorecards being read, Du Plessis called for the South African flag.

«This is history,» Du Plessis said in his postfight interview.

Strickland had a lot of success early in the fight with a nasty, piston-like jab. Du Plessis not only struggled to defend it but had trouble getting off his own offense due to that. Du Plessis called Strickland's jab «super, super, super» good.

«It feels like somebody hits you with a rock,» he said. «It's very deceptive when he throws the jab, and he can turn it into a left hook. He does that really, really well.»

In the third and fourth rounds, Du Plessis turned things around in a major way, cutting Strickland near his left eye and hurting him with a big right hand. Du Plessis said that was by design, that his game plan was to play Strickland's game in the first two rounds and turn it on in the third. Strickland closed well in the fifth, but Du Plessis proved his mettle in a championship fight, silencing critics of his cardio.

«Who says I'm not a five-round fighter?» Du Plessis said.

UFC CEO Dana White said he thought Strickland won the hotly contested bout. Strickland actually landed more significant strikes, 173-137.

«I had it 2-2 going into the