Strickland-DDP, Volkanovski-Topuria, O'Malley-Vera title bouts set for 2024

UFC CEO Dana White announced a trio of blockbuster title fights for the start of 2024 on Monday.

Middleweight champion Sean Strickland will make his first title against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January. The pay-per-view event will be in Toronto, according to ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

Next up in February at UFC 298, featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski will take on Ilia Topuria.

Lastly, bantamweight titleholder Sean O'Malley will face Marlon Vera in a rematch in March. O'Malley said on "The MMA Hour" that the fight will headline UFC 299.

Strickland stunned Israel Adesanya to claim the 185-pound strap in September. Du Plessis was supposed to fight Adesanya after a TKO win over former champion Robert Whittaker in July but was unable to compete due to an injury.

With Adesanya taking an indefinite leave, White previously said the winner of Khamzat Chimaev-Kamaru Usman in October would get the next middleweight title fight. Chimaev won via unanimous decision in a competitive bout.

Meanwhile, Volkanovski will look to get back on track after suffering a first-round knockout loss to lightweight king Islam Makhachev in October. The Australian took the rematch on short notice following Charles Oliveira's withdrawal.

Volkanovski is attempting to extend his featherweight title defense streak to six wins against the undefeated Spanish fighter. Topuria is 6-0 since debuting in the UFC in October 2020 and most recently earned a unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett in June to solidify himself as the next man up at 145 pounds.

O'Malley gets a chance at revenge after Vera handed him his lone career loss back in August 2020. He has since won five fights (with one no-contest), including taking the bantamweight crown off Aljamain Sterling in August.

Vera has won five of his last six fights, with his only defeat coming to Cory Sandhagen via split decision in March.