UFC 312 Preview

The UFC is invading the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, February 8th for UFC 312. The main event will be a rematch for the middleweight title between champion Dricus du Plessis and former champion Sean Strickland.

The two fighters first met at UFC 297 last January where du Plessis won by a razor thin split decision. The fight was Strickland’s first defense of the title after defeating legend Israel Adesanya for one of the biggest upsets of 2023. The current champion made his first defense of the title at UFC 305 in August where he defeated Adesanya by fourth round submission. 

Du Plessis talked about facing Sean Strickland again. “The key for me is that it’s not a rematch; it’s a match,” said Du Plessis. I’m not looking at it as a rematch. I’m looking at it where I’ve beaten Sean Strickland and now I have to beat Sean Strickland again. Even more so, I’ve beaten this guy and now I’m beating another guy.”

The 31-year-old continued, “We are not the same fighters we were a year ago,” the champion said. “The Dricus that stepped in there a year ago is not the same guy that is stepping in there now, the same with him, and that’s why I don’t see it as a rematch — I see it as a fight.

“If this was somebody else stepping in there, I would approach it exactly the same because I don’t see it as a rematch: I see it as I need to beat whoever steps into that Octagon on Saturday night, and that is the only thing I see.”

While many pundits believe Strickland won the last fight, du Plessis does not see it that way. “When we fought, I was moving forward 23 minutes out of a 25-minute fight. I was advancing, throwing — landing less, but throwing more, for sure. Power punches? 100-percent, trying to catch him, trying to get him out of there, trying to finish the fight from the get-go; getting takedowns, getting back up, and pushing that pace.

“I was the one dictating that pace. I was the one going forward and advancing, and this time around, it will be the same.”

The South African fighter concluded, “He’s gonna change it up because they know I have the answer for (what he typically does,” Du Plessis stated, projecting how he believes things will play out in Saturday night’s main event. “He’s gonna lose a decision again if he tries to be that defensive and just move backwards, because that is how fighting works.

“This time ‘round, he’s forced to come forward and fight me, and I know that he can. He’s a guy that can take a punch, but it’s much better taking a punch hiding, shelling up, and riding than coming forward and eating a punch while you’re throwing a punch, especially one of mine.

“That’s where it’s gonna be different. He’s gonna initiate the wrestling, and I think he’s gonna look at those avenues and change it up to try to throw me off, because he has to do that now that he knows that in terms of the scoring system, he won’t beat me the way that he tried to the first time.

After the split decision loss to du Plessis, Strickland went on to win a split decision over former title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 302 in June. How does he feel about fighting du Plessis this time around?

“I’m going to be out there on Sunday and I’m going to come out f*cking hard and strong,” Strickland said. “The hardest and strongest you’ve ever f*cking seen. To the f*cking death, Dutchman!”

The two had heated exchanges in the media before their first fight and this time around Strickland responded to du Plessis’ claim that he is injured. The champion tweeted that Strickland has a staph infection and the challenger responded at the final UFC 312 press conference on Thursday.

“Listen you motherf*ckers, I’m immune to staph,” Strickland shouted. “You see this f*cking mustache? I give staph, I don’t f*cking get staph.

“Calm the f*ck down. I don’t get sick. I don’t get f*cking injured and I don’t get f*cking staph. So relax.”

Strickland has become a fan-favorite with his brash ideologies and his lack of fear when it comes to speaking his mind. He has been his normal self heading into this fight but you can tell there is a mutual respect between the two, which could lead to another five round war on Saturday.

The rest of the main card:

Women’s Strawweight Title Fight - Champion Zhang Weili vs. #1 Tatiana Suarez

Heavyweight bout - Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira

Light Heavyweight bout - Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato

Welterweight bout - Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado

ESPN + Prelims:

Featherweight bout - Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos

Lightweight bout - Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshcev

Women’s Flyweight bout - Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil

Bantamweight bout - Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria

Early Prelims on UFC Fight Pass:

Lightweight bout -  Rongzhu vs. Kody Steele

Welterweight bout - Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset

Lightweight bout - Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli