Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland came face-to-face for the final time before their UFC 312 title rematch.
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] got a final look at each other before their title rematch at UFC 312 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will put his middleweight title on the line against Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) in the headliner of Saturday’s event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The first meeting took place in January 2024, with Du Plessis taking the belt off Strickland by split decision.
Both men are keen to end any questions around their first clash, and their anticipation to step in the octagon was clear as they got in front of each other for one last pre-fight staredown.
Check out the video above to see the Du Plessis vs. Strickland faceoff from UFC 311 ceremonial weigh-ins.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
The runway is clear for the Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland rematch after champ and challenger made weight for UFC 312.
The runway is clear for [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] to have their UFC 312 rematch after the champion and challenger made weight on Friday.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will attempt to make his second middleweight title defense against the man he took the belt from 13 months ago in Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) when they run it back in Saturday’s headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Prior to stepping into the octagon, they had the obligation of making weight. They did so at the UFC host hotel, with both Du Plessis and former titleholder Strickland hitting 185 pounds on the scale.
Check out the video above to see Du Plessis and Strickland make weight for their UFC 312 rematch.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
Will Dricus Du Plessis and Zhang Weili retain their titles at UFC 312? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] are running it back in the second UFC pay-per-view of the year.
Saturday, the UFC middleweight title will be up for grabs in the UFC 312 main event, which goes down at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) will attempt to avenge his loss to Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC), while also trying to regain his belt. In the co-main event, unbeaten contender [autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] finally gets her long-awaited title shot against strawweight champion [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag].
What’s our level of excitement for the card? Who will leave as UFC championsff? What are other highlights outside the two title fights?
MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Danny Segura and host Gorgeous George discuss everything around the two championship fights headlining UFC 312, among others.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
On the latest episode of UFC 312 “Embedded” in Sydney, Colby ThIcknesse gets in some training with an ex-champ before his debut.
The UFC returns “Down Under” for UFC 312, its second pay-per-view of the year, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 312 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) takes place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
The main event features a rematch between middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) roughly a year after Du Plessis claimed the 185-pound title with a split decision win over Strickland. And in the co-main event, strawweight champion [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (25-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) puts her title on the line against [autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC).
The fourth episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Sean Strickland spars with Caio Borralho; Champ Dricus Du Plessis gets a morning training session in; Colby Thicknesse continues camp with Alexander Volkanovski; UFC 312 athletes make the Media Day rounds; The stars of UFC 312 greet their fans at the Open Workouts.
The Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland rematch at UFC 312 will be much more “violent” than the first meeting, explains one top analyst.
Coach [autotag]Sayif Saud[/autotag] doesn’t expect [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] to hold anything back when their UFC 312 rematch begins.
Less than 13 months after Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) took the middleweight title off Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) by debated split decision at UFC 297, the pair will run it back in Saturday’s headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
The first fight delivered some solid action but went down to the wire. Both men believe to this day they clearly won, with Strickland blaming poor judging as well as his performance being hindered by a cut he claims came from an illegal head butt. Du Plessis, meanwhile, thinks there was no controversy and intends on putting a stamp on the sequel.
Saud, who is the head coach at Fortis MMA and was an Analyst of the Year nominee at the 16th annual World MMA Awards, thinks there’s no shortage of motivation on both ends going into UFC 312, and that should create a high quality championship fight.
“Sean Strickland is not a f*cking game,” Saud told MMA Junkie. “Sean Strickland is a guy that I think he builds confidence with experience. He has experience in there with Dricus, going at Dricus. People are kind of counting him out a little bit more in this fight saying, ‘Well, Dricus is going to finish, Dricus is getting better and better.’ That might be the case, but I still see this is a very close fight. I just think with the experience that Sean Strickland has, mentally I feel like he’ll be more prepared. But again, the champion is 30 percent better every time.
“You become the champion, you’re literally 30 percent better. The confidence that comes with that. Dricus is a f*cking beast. He knows it doesn’t look great, but he don’t care. His whole thing is, ‘I’m going to out will you.’ And that’s powerful, man. Fighting is about will, and he out wills people. He really, really does. But that ain’t going to be easy to go do against Sean Strickland, because Sean Strickland is a five-round fighter.”
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Strickland, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings, has received some criticism for his fighting style not meeting the standards he sets with his pre-fight trash talk. Strickland has had some underwhelming performances, but the effectiveness of his jab and teep kicks cannot be underestimated.
Saud anticipated Strickland’s trademarks will all be there for the rematch, but he thinks there will be a more vicious intend to his approach in this particular contest.
“We’ve seen him when he hurts guys, he goes after them,” Saudi said of Strickland. “I think he’s going to try to hurt Dricus. I think he wants to hurt Dricus. I think he doesn’t like Dricus, and I think Dricus doesn’t like him, and I think we’re going to see quite a battle.”
No. 1-ranked Du Plessis, 31, won’t be short on answers if Strickland, 33, turns up his desire for the finish, however, and that’s why Saud thinks anyone predicting a dull contest will be proven wrong.
“I think we’re going to see what we saw (in the first fight), but a little more aggressive version of that,” Saud said. “I think they’re going to add on a bit, they’re going to study the tape and they’re going to come up with some more stuff. But Dricus’ coach is really, really good at game planning. This is going to be a real chess match between these two, and it’s going to be violent.”
To hear more of Saud’s breakdown of Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 at UFC 312, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
Sean Strickland assures fans he isn’t battling staph infection going into UFC 312.
[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] assures fans he isn’t battling staph infection going into UFC 312.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) challenges middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a title-fight rematch, which headlines Saturday’s event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
During Strickland’s pre-fight photoshoot with the UFC, many noticed what appeared to be a potential staph infection on his upper left arm. Du Plessis played into it by posting something about it on his Instagram story (h/t Championship Rounds).
Strickland addressed those rumors and denied that he’s battling staph.
“Listen motherf*ckers, I’m immune to staph,” Strickland said during Thursday’s UFC 312 pre-fight press conference. “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, I don’t get f*cking staph. So, relax. I’m going to be out there on Sunday, and I’m going to come out f*cking hard and strong. The hardest and strongest you’ve ever f*cking seen. To the f*cking death, Dutch man.”
After exchanging words at the UFC 312 pre-fight press conference, Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland came face-to-face.
After exchanging words at the UFC 312 pre-fight press conference, [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] came face-to-face for the first time on fight week.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) will rematch for the middleweight title on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+), and tensions are beginning to flair as they prepare to step back in the octagon against each other.
The first fight at UFC 297 in January 2024 ended with Du Plessis taking the belt from Strickland in a debated split decision. Du Plessis thinks there was no controversy and intends to prove it with a clear-cut win, while Strickland claims he was “robbed” and intends to take back the belt.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DFuUzxGxtPO/
Check out the video above to see the Du Plessis vs. Strickland staredown from the UFC 312 pre-fight press conference.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
In the second episode of UFC 312 “Embedded,” fighters are welcomed to Australia, and Jimmy Crute unknowingly tempts the vlog series’ curse.
The UFC returns “Down Under” for UFC 312, its second pay-per-view of the year, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 312 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) takes place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
The main event features a rematch between middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) roughly a year after Du Plessis claimed the 185-pound title with a split decision win over Strickland. And in the co-main event, strawweight champion [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (25-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) puts her title on the line against [autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC).
The third episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Sean Strickland relaxes at the beach; Champ Zhang Weili makes the trip to Sydney; Champ Dricus Du Plessis has a run in with a spider at the gym; Tatiana Suarez trains in the hotel; Jimmy Crute cuts his hair for fight night; Australia welcomes the athletes of UFC 312; Fighters check-in for UFC 312 fight week.
UFC 312 headliner Dricus Du Plessis explains why he puts Israel Adesanya “in the same category as Anderson Silva” despite his KO loss.
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s best days are behind him.
After Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) suffered a third consecutive loss for the first time in his combat sports career and fell to 1-4 in his past five fights with a second-round knockout defeat to Nassourdine Imavov this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 250, many have questioned the future of the former longtime middleweight champion.
Adesanya is in an unprecedented spot, and at 35, has already achieved the highest of highs. He is just one fight removed from unsuccessfully challenging Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August, though, and has looked particularly competitive in his past two bouts.
Du Plessis, who puts his 185-pound belt on the line in a rematch with Sean Strickland at UFC 312 on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+), is among those speculating what Adesanya’s future holds.
“For Izzy, I don’t think there’s another title run,” Du Plessis told reporters at UFC 312 media day. “With all due respect. I think his legacy is cemented and will always be there, and whatever he feels like doing, he can do. I put him in the same category as Anderson Silva at this stage of, lose as many fights as you want. You’ll always have your legacy. Anderson Silva, after his reign ended, I don’t care how many times he lost. He was still my GOAT. He was still the greatest middleweight of all time. And I feel like Izzy is in that area, where whatever you decided to do – take super fights here or there if you want to, if you still have the passion for it.”
Du Plessis wouldn’t exactly endorse Adesanya continuing to fight for the wrong reasons. However, he said Adesanya’s history in the sport is already etched in stone, and no future results should impact the greatness of his peak form.
“If you’ve lost the passion then yeah, you have everything, don’t do it anymore,” Du Plessis said. “You don’t have to take any more trauma, you don’t have to put yourself through that. But if you want to do that, go for it. Nothing he can do can tarnish that legacy he’s already built.”
It appears Alex Pereira could have added motivation to corner Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
It appears [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] could have added motivation to corner [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] at UFC 312.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) challenges middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a title-fight rematch, which headlines Saturday’s event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Strickland revealed that Pereira isn’t too big of a fan of Du Plessis.
“I think Alex is an angry motherf*cker,” Strickland said in an interview with UFC News. “Like Alex is angry and for some reason dude he hates Dricus. Like I don’t know what you did to him, but he f*cking hates you dude. so, it’s like the way he looks at Dricus sometimes I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m fighting him dawg, like it’s me dude.’ But yeah no, Alex, he just has that hate in his heart, and he’s a good dude so, he’s out there, I was like, ‘Let’s come on, let’s get it in.'”
Pereira and Du Plessis have angled to fight each other in the past, with both fighters willing to move weight classes to make it happen. Du Plessis recently praised “Poatan,” but also has plans of becoming a two-weight UFC champion like him down the line.
