South Africa's Dricus du Plessis crowned UFC middleweight champion

The Pretoria native won a split-decision victory over defending champion Sean Strickland to claim the UFC middleweight strap in dramatic fashion at UFC 297 in Toronto on Saturday night.

The opening round was dominated by the accurate jab of the defending champion, keeping du Plessis' wild attacks at bay. Strictland continued to show why he is one of the best defence fighters in the world, consistently checking the challengers' leg kicks and skating out of range.

With the South African sporting a swollen left eye from eating too many jabs, it was not looking good for his title aspirations.

But as the fight wore on, du Plessis began to find his range. Key to victory were his six takedowns, even if he didn't follow them up with damage. Du Plessis' overhand right connected several times, opening up Strickland's left eye. His high kicks also found their target, getting through Strickland's now wavering defence. 

With the fight on a knife edge heading into the crucial final round, Strickland managed to spawl and avoid two takedowns. As the clock wound down, both bloodied fighters threw caution to the wind and their flailing limbs brought the boisterous Toronto crowd to fever pitch.

The two warriors hugged on the buzzer in mutual admiration, but legendary announcer Bruce Buffer could only raise one of their hands. By split decision, du Plessis became South Africa's first UFC champion, grinning ear-to-ear as UFC boss Dana White wrapped the gold strap around his waist. 

"Nou weet hulle wat ons weet!" he screamed into the mic while draped with the flag in the post-fight interview.

Elsewhere on the main card, Raquel Pennington won the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight belt with a dominant decision win over Myra Bueno Silva in a dour five-round affair.

In the welterweight division, Neil Magny broke Canadian hearts with a late finish of local hopeful Mike Mallot, while Chris Curtis defeated Marc-Andre Barriault via decision.

Finally, featherweight Mosvar Evloev improved to an incredible 18-0 when he ground a decision victory over the dangerous Arnold Allen.

READ MORE: UFC boss considers bringing event to South Africa following Dricus du Plessis victory