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The UFC has revealed its plans for the first quarter of 2024, with three exciting title fights scheduled for January, February and March. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the news on social media on Monday, announcing the matchups for the middleweight, featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
The first title fight of the year will take place at UFC 297 in Toronto, where UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland will face his first challenger, Dricus du Plessis. Strickland (28-5) shocked the world by dethroning Israel Adesanya in September, while du Plessis (20-2) earned his title shot by stopping former champ Robert Whittaker in the summer. Both fighters are on six-fight winning streaks and have proven to be finishers in the octagon.
The next title fight will be at UFC 298, where UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will return to his natural weight class after failing to capture the lightweight belt from Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski (26-3) suffered two losses to Makhachev in 2023, the second one being a devastating knockout, but he is still unbeaten in his other 13 UFC bouts. He will defend his featherweight crown against Ilia Topuria, a rising star who has won all six of his UFC fights, including a recent decision over Josh Emmett.
The third title fight will be a rematch between UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera at UFC 299. O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) claimed the belt by knocking out Aljamain Sterling in August, but he still has a score to settle with Vera (21-8-1), who handed him his only professional loss by TKO in 2020. Vera has been on a tear since then, defeating top contenders like Rob Font, Frankie Edgar, Pedro Munhoz and Dominick Cruz.