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UFC 297 Bonuses: Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis Earn Fight Of The Night

Find out who took home the bonus money from UFC 297

Zain Bando

UFC 297 Bonuses: Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis Earn Fight Of The Night
UFC 297 Bonuses: Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis Earn Fight Of The Night /

UFC 297 is in the books, and with the first pay-per-view event of 2024 all wrapped in a bow, the promotion handed out three extra checks to rightful winners Saturday night.

UFC CEO Dana White spoke to the assembled media at the UFC 297 post-fight press conference and revealed bonuses for the Fight of the Night and two performance-based awards, as is per routine.

Earning those awards included the main event participants, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, who battered and battled each other for five rounds before South Africa's Du Plessis took home a razor-close split decision, 48-47, to win the middleweight title. By virtue of their efforts, both men took home Fight of the Night honors.

UFC 297 Post-Fight Presser: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis (VIDEO)

The other two awards went to Gillian Robertson and Jasmine Jasudavicius, as both women won their respective preliminary bouts. Jasudavicius won by a third-round submission against Priscila Cachoeira and improved to 4-2 in the promotion, having won three of her last four bouts since Feb. 2023.

As for Robertson, she earned her first victory in 10 months with a second-round TKO against Polyana Viana and now sits at 10-6 in the UFC.

All four fighters took home $50,000, as the sold-out crowd witnessed a mix of Canadian star power and struggles throughout the evening.

Du Plessis became the promotion's fourth middleweight champion in an 18-month span, as his next fight, barring complications with his eye, could be his biggest test to date.

For now, however, the road to the UFC middleweight title runs through South Africa, as Du Plessis has won seven straight Octagon appearances. 

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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