Dricus du Plessis became South Africa’s first ever UFC champion by beating Sean Strickland in Toronto on Saturday night.

After five incredibly hard-fought and close rounds, the judges scored it 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 for the new middleweight champion. ‘This is history!’ Du Plessis (21-2) screamed in honour of his homeland. ‘South Africa… we can probably hear them from outside. That country is amazing,’ he said.

For all the toxicity of the build-up, this was competition as clean and pure as you could wish for. The pair were incredibly well matched and had buried the hatchet after a month of tension.

That tension had spilled over at UFC 296 in extraordinary scenes when the pair of them fought in public in the crowd of the Las Vegas event.

Strickland had taken exception to Du Plessis bringing up his traumatic childhood and allegedly abusive upbringing. It was the backdrop to this unlikely showdown between two men few would have predicted would be fighting each other for the title a year or so ago.

Dricus du Plessis celebrates becoming the first UFC champion from South Africa after winning the decision

The new middleweight king held his belt aloft in Toronto after being given the nod by the judges

Du Plessis landed a number of heavy shots but was unable to put Strickland away in the main event of the night

An embrace from his father saw Du Plessis overcome with emeotion after Dana White gave him the belt

Strickland looks sharp and tight in his stance to start in the first, checking every kick with brilliant timing. He landed his jab well and Du Plessis looked ragged, albeit connecting with some heavy kicks to the body.

The South African then changed it up to take him down but only briefly as the champ made his way back to his feet. Du Plessis came right back into the fight in the second, mostly through output and he was throwing four to land one, such was the range control of Strickland.

He also secured another takedown but couldn’t make it stick. Du Plessis’ left eye was swollen badly and Strickland had a small cut on his face.

The third was another tough one to call, Du Plessis was the more active. Strickland had slowed down, throwing fewer strikes than the first couple of rounds and the often questioned cardio of the challenger seemed to be holding up.

Strickland’s coach said: ‘I need this round’, as they emerged for the fourth. He was chasing the fight now. Du Plessis was still firing on all cylinders and mixed up his strikes with punches and kicks so well before throwing in a takedown. He comfortably won the fourth.

Both men raised their hands at the culmination of a sensational final round. Strickland came back to have a superb last five minutes, covered in blood, swinging for the fences with the fans on their feet.

‘Every time he hits you with that jab it feels like someone hit you with a rock,’ Du Plessis said afterwards.

Strickland was bloodied up after a gruelling five rounds against the powerful South African

Du Plessis was able to mix up his attacks well and secured a number of takedowns against the American

Strickland started superbly and managed to keep the challenger at range with his distance control

‘You are one heck of a man, thank you for bringing out the best of me tonight,’ Du Plessis said. ‘The first three rounds were give and take, but the last two, I was desperate rounds four and five.’

To which Strickland later replied: ‘I called it from day one – it was going to be a war.’

Given the extremely close nature of the fight, there’s a legitimate argument for a rematch but Israel Adesanya may yet strut back into town wanting his old belt back.

The division is desperately in need of fresh blood and perhaps Khamzat Chimaev could be the one to provide it. It will be fascinating to see which direction the UFC go.

In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington claimed the vacant women’s bantamweight title. She showed plenty of heart to out-battle Marya Bueno Silva 29-26, 29-26, 29-25.

Raquel Pennington is pictured with her daughter and the UFC belt after becoming the new champion

Arnold Allen (left) was not able to stop the undefeated Movsar Evloev moving to 18-0 in the curtain-raiser

Afterwards she said, ‘It feels surreal, Canada what’s up! I want to thank Dana for this chance, it has been a long five years getting back to this.

‘I thank my coaches and everyone and home. My beautiful wife and my baby girl. I expected to do a lot more, she was tough, it has been a long five years and I had to climb mountains to get here. I went out there and didn’t give up on myself. Julianna get yourself better, it’s been ten years I’ve been waiting for that fight.’

Arnold Allen fell short against Movsar Evloev in the main card’s curtain raiser but there was better news for fellow Brit Sam Patterson, who won his pre-lim fight with a first-round submission.