A middleweight name rematch between champion Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland takes heart level at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in the community).
Their first struggle happened at UFC 297 in January 2024, with Strickland making an attempt to protect his championship for the primary time after defeating two-time champion Israel Adesanya 4 months previous at UFC 293.
du Plessis entered the bout after knocking out former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July 2023.
Their struggle went the space in a back-and-forth affair, as du Plessis and Strickland traded blows whilst making an attempt to peer whose fuel tank would empty first. du Plessis was once ultimately awarded a cut up determination — 48-47, 48-47, 47-47 — in spite of a fourth-round alleged headbutt via du Plessis being the debatable turning level.
As a substitute of the UFC granting a direct rematch, Strickland (29-6 MMA) maintained his standing as a divisional name contender via beating Paulo Costa 5 months later via determination at UFC 302. On the identical time, du Plessis (22-2 MMA) secured a fourth-round rear-naked-choke in opposition to Adesanya at UFC 305 ultimate August in his first name protection.
Assembly with media individuals Wednesday evening, du Plessis stated it is onerous to expect how the rematch will pan out, given Strickland’s unorthodox placing and constant tempo. That stated, he clarified he’s in a position for anywhere the struggle is going.
“I am going in there searching for that end from the primary bell,” du Plessis stated. “And if it has to visit ultimate bell (in Spherical 5), I’m going to be searching for that knockout till the tip of the struggle.”
du Plessis clarified it was once a punch, now not a headbutt, that brought about Strickland’s lower above his eye to irritate. Regardless of the case, Strickland, identified for his brash, no-nonsense character, confident the Australian target audience {that a} identical situation would not occur once more on struggle evening.
“It was once a (expletive) headbutt, however despite the fact that it wasn’t, it does not (expletive) subject motive it is not gonna occur once more,” he stated.
The co-main tournament includes a ladies’s strawweight name struggle between champion Weili Zhang, who enters her 3rd name protection throughout her 2nd championship run, in opposition to No. 1 contender Tatiana Suarez.
The struggle marks Zhang’s first in 10 months, as she defeated Xiaonan Yan at UFC 300 via determination to increase her win streak to 4.
In the meantime, Suarez, who handled nagging accidents sooner than in spite of everything securing a name shot, has an opportunity to end up Las Vegas oddsmakers proper with a win.
As of Thursday, DraftKings Sportsbook tabs Suarez (11-0 MMA) as a slight -120 favourite. The go back on Zhang (25-3 MMA) is +100, which failed to wonder Suarez.
“I do not actually put the rest into that,” Suarez stated of her favorable odds. “I simply know I am the most efficient on the earth, and clearly, the oddsmakers are aware of it, too. I am gonna cross available in the market (and) win my belt.”
Zhang said Suarez’s all-around MMA skillset however stated she is extra seasoned irrespective of what Suarez throws her approach.
“I feel I simply need to do my easiest (and) center of attention on myself,” Zhang stated.
Regardless of going down in Australia, UFC 312 has a conventional 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT pay-per-view get started time and can also be noticed on ESPN+ within the U.S.
–UFC 312 Major Card:
Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland, middleweight
Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez, ladies’s strawweight
Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira, heavyweight
Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato, mild heavyweight
Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado, welterweight
–Box Stage Media
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