UFC Starting 2024 With Massive Bouts
The start of 2024 is going to be full of great fights.
UFC CEO Dana White took to social media today to announce the main events of UFC 297, 298, and 299, and all three fights are appointment-viewing.
UFC 297 in January will be headlined by a middleweight title bout with Sean Strickland making his first defense of the middleweight title. His opponent will be Dricus du Plessis, who earned the right to fight for the belt when he defeated Robert Whittaker in a title eliminator over the summer.
UFC 298 in February marks the return of Alexander Volkanovski, who will defend the featherweight title against Ilia Topuria. Volkanovski looks to shake off the knockout loss suffered at the hands of Islam Makhachev, a lightweight fight he took on only 12 days’ notice.
And, finally, UFC 299 in March is centered around Sean O’Malley making his first defense of the bantamweight title. O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) has only one blemish on his record, and that was suffered when he lost to Chito Vera in the summer of 2020. Vera will get his shot at O’Malley, leapfrogging the injured Cory Sandhagen, for the chance to become champion. For O’Malley, this is also a chance to redeem himself after a fluke ankle injury hindered his performance in their first fight.
White’s announcement made no mention of UFC 300. The possibility exists that Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler could headline that mega card. Until then, there will be plenty of big fights to enjoy.
