Controversy

Strickland vs. du Plessis 1 Scorecard: Did Sean Strickland Beat Dricus du Plessis?

Strickland out-landed du Plessis by 36 significant strikes. Du Plessis took him down six times and won the fourth round on every card. The judges agreed on four rounds and split on one.

By Jashan Oct 16, 2026 · 7 min read

At a glance

1ResultDu Plessis by split decision - 48-47, 48-47, 47-48
2The judgesDerek Cleary and Eric Colon for du Plessis, Sal D'Amato for Strickland; referee Marc Goddard
3The splitRound 3, the only round the judges disagreed on
4The statsSignificant strikes 173-137 to Strickland; du Plessis 6 of 11 takedowns and 2:08 of control
5The mediaSherdog's three scorers: two for Strickland, one for du Plessis, all 48-47
6Our card48-47 Strickland

What was at stake

Sean Strickland came into UFC 297 as one of the least expected champions in UFC history. At UFC 293 in September 2023 he had beaten Israel Adesanya 49-46 on all three cards, dropping him in the first round, after starting as a heavy underdog; Sherdog lists him at +475. He only got the shot because Dricus du Plessis, who had earned it by stopping Robert Whittaker in the second round at UFC 290 in July, was not fit enough to fight again so soon.

So UFC 297 on January 20, 2024 was Strickland's first defence against the man who had been next in line all along, and it came with bad blood. A month earlier, at UFC 296, the two had fought in the crowd and Strickland was escorted out, days after a heated press conference. The betting had it close to even; the lines we found ranged from a slight edge for Strickland to a slight edge for du Plessis.

The official scorecards

Each judge's card, round by round, as reported by The Globe and Mail, GiveMeSport and SPORTbible, which agree; the totals match the official results. Scores are written Strickland first.

Judge	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total
Derek Cleary	10-9	9-10	9-10	9-10	10-9	47-48
Eric Colon	10-9	9-10	9-10	9-10	10-9	47-48
Sal D'Amato	10-9	9-10	10-9	9-10	10-9	48-47

Referee: Marc Goddard. Every round was scored 10-9. Bold marks round 3, the only round the judges split on.

The cards are simpler than a split decision usually is. All three judges gave Strickland rounds 1 and 5 and du Plessis rounds 2 and 4. Everything came down to round 3: Cleary and Colon gave it to du Plessis, D'Amato to Strickland. One round, scored differently by one judge out of three, decided a world title.

Round by round

Round 1 - Strickland (all three judges)

Strickland controlled the range with his jab and front kicks, as Sherdog and CBS Sports both describe it, and both outlets describe du Plessis getting a double-leg takedown and Strickland getting straight back up, and both have Strickland landing his best right hand at the end of the round. The official count credits du Plessis with two takedowns from three tries and 28 seconds of control, but Strickland out-landed him 34-18, and 28 of those were to the head.

Round 2 - du Plessis (all three judges)

The only round in which du Plessis landed more significant strikes, 26-22, and he did it by going to the body, 9-1. He added a late takedown against the fence. By now both men were marked: CBS Sports and Cageside Press report blood near Strickland's eye, and Sherdog and CBS Sports describe du Plessis's left eye swelling from the jabs.

Round 3 - du Plessis 2-1 (Cleary and Colon)

The round that decided the title, and CBS Sports called it "the closest round of the fight". Du Plessis kept walking forward and Strickland kept jabbing. Neither man tried a takedown. Strickland landed 31 significant strikes to 29 and was far ahead to the head, 29-13, and Sherdog and CBS Sports both have him ending the round with a clean left hook. Du Plessis answered to the body (10-2) and legs (6-0). Cleary and Colon gave the round to du Plessis, D'Amato to Strickland.

Round 4 - du Plessis (all three judges)

Du Plessis's best round. He completed three of five takedowns and held Strickland down for 1:18, by far the most control of the fight, and cut him with an elbow, after which Strickland bled heavily. Strickland still out-landed him standing, 33-29, and briefly staggered him with a short right hand that Sherdog and CBS Sports both describe. But the takedowns and the blood made it du Plessis's on every card.

Round 5 - Strickland (all three judges)

Strickland's best round on the numbers: 53 significant strikes to 35, 48 of them to the head, and both of du Plessis's takedown attempts stopped. All three judges gave it to him, which put the fight back to two rounds each with round 3 deciding it.

What the numbers say

The official statistics, round by round (Strickland first):

Round	Sig. strikes	Head	Body	Legs	Takedowns	Control
R1	34 – 18	28 – 8	2 – 3	4 – 7	0/0 – 2/3	0:00 – 0:28
R2	22 – 26	20 – 11	1 – 9	1 – 6	0/0 – 1/1	0:00 – 0:22
R3	31 – 29	29 – 13	2 – 10	0 – 6	0/0 – 0/0	0:00 – 0:00
R4	33 – 29	32 – 22	1 – 4	0 – 3	0/0 – 3/5	0:00 – 1:18
R5	53 – 35	48 – 27	4 – 6	1 – 2	0/0 – 0/2	0:00 – 0:00
Total	173 – 137	157 – 81	10 – 32	6 – 24	0/0 – 6/11	0:00 – 2:08

Strickland out-landed du Plessis in four of the five rounds and by 36 significant strikes overall, and he did it almost entirely with punches to the head: 157 of his 173. He also landed at the better rate, 42% to 39%. There were no knockdowns and no submission attempts from either man.

Du Plessis's case is everything else. He landed 32 strikes to the body and 24 to the legs against 16 for Strickland combined, he completed six of eleven takedowns, and he had all 2:08 of the fight's control time. Strickland never tried a takedown. That is why the fight was hard to score: Strickland won the exchanges by volume, du Plessis won them by variety and by putting Strickland on his back.

Round 3 shows the problem in miniature. It is the one round with no takedowns, so it comes down to the striking alone, and the striking was almost level overall (31-29) but very uneven by target: 29-13 to the head for Strickland, 16-2 to the body and legs for du Plessis. Two judges went with du Plessis, one with Strickland.

The media split too. Sherdog's three scorers all had it 48-47 - two for Strickland, one for du Plessis - and disagreed on rounds 2 and 3. Dana White, as The Globe and Mail reported, said: "I had it 2-2 going into the last round. And I thought Strickland won the last round." He added that others at his table had it the other way.

How we scored it

Round	MMA.SOCIAL	Why
R1	10-9 Strickland	34-18 in significant strikes, 28-8 to the head; du Plessis's takedown led to nothing.
R2	10-9 du Plessis	The only round he out-landed Strickland, 26-22, with the body work and a late takedown.
R3	10-9 Strickland	No takedowns, so the striking decides it: 31-29 overall, 29-13 to the head, and the left hook to end the round.
R4	10-9 du Plessis	Three takedowns, 1:18 of control and the elbow that cut Strickland outweigh Strickland's 33-29 on the feet.
R5	10-9 Strickland	53-35 in significant strikes and both takedowns stopped.
Total	48-47 Strickland

Our card is D'Amato's. Round 3 is the whole argument, and we give it to Strickland because, with no takedowns in it, the cleaner and more frequent strikes to the head should count for more than pressure. But du Plessis did walk Strickland down for five minutes and won the body and legs 16-2, and a judge who rewards that is not making a mistake. Two of the three did.

Which is why this is a close call, not a robbery. Every judge agreed on four rounds. Round 3 was close enough that CBS Sports called it the closest of the fight and Sherdog's own scorers disagreed on it. A title lost on one coin-flip round is hard on Strickland, but the result is one a reasonable judge could reach.

What happened next

"It was a close fight, make no mistake. But I thought I had it," du Plessis said, as The Globe and Mail reported; he also said he was sure of the last two rounds, as CBS Sports reported, though all three judges gave Strickland the fifth. Strickland said, also as CBS Sports reported: "I'm salty, I thought I won that". White said: "It was one of those tight fights. But I'm also one of these guys, I believe you have to take it from the champion." Du Plessis became the first UFC champion from his home country.

Both men won again quickly. Strickland beat Paulo Costa by split decision at UFC 302 in June 2024. Du Plessis submitted Adesanya in the fourth round at UFC 305 in August 2024, then met Strickland again at UFC 312 on February 8, 2025. The rematch was not close: du Plessis won a unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.

Du Plessis lost the title at UFC 319 in August 2025, when Khamzat Chimaev beat him 50-44 on all three cards, and he beat Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision in July 2026. Strickland stopped Anthony Hernandez in the third round in February 2026, and at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026 he beat Chimaev by split decision - the first loss of Chimaev's career - to become middleweight champion for the second time.

The verdict

Strickland vs. du Plessis 1 came down to one round. The judges agreed on the other four, and on round 3 two of them preferred du Plessis's pressure, body work and forward movement to Strickland's jab. We would have given it to Strickland, 48-47, on the strength of his work to the head in a round without a takedown. But it was a fight that could fairly go either way, du Plessis settled any doubt in the rematch, and the title change at UFC 297 was a close decision, not a robbery.

Full fight stats: Strickland vs. du Plessis. The rest of the night: UFC 297. More: the most split decisions, the most title fights and the fighters with the most disputed losses.

Sources

Questions

Who won Strickland vs. du Plessis 1?

Dricus du Plessis, by split decision at UFC 297 on January 20, 2024. Derek Cleary and Eric Colon scored it 48-47 for du Plessis and Sal D'Amato 48-47 for Sean Strickland. Du Plessis took the middleweight title.

What was the Strickland vs. du Plessis scorecard?

All three judges gave Strickland rounds 1 and 5 and du Plessis rounds 2 and 4. Round 3 decided it: Cleary and Colon gave it to du Plessis, D'Amato to Strickland, for totals of 48-47, 48-47 and 47-48.

Was Strickland vs. du Plessis a robbery?

Not by most measures. The judges agreed on four of five rounds, and the round they split on was close enough that media scorers split on it too. Strickland landed more significant strikes, 173 to 137, but du Plessis landed six takedowns. We scored it 48-47 for Strickland.

Who landed more strikes in Strickland vs. du Plessis?

Strickland landed more significant strikes, 173 to 137, and 157 of them were to the head. Du Plessis landed more to the body, 32 to 10, and to the legs, 24 to 6, and completed six of eleven takedowns.

Did Strickland and du Plessis have a rematch?

Yes. Du Plessis beat Strickland again at UFC 312 on February 8, 2025, this time by unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.