To hear Sean Strickland tell it, he still doesn’t care all that much about a UFC title — but he’s fighting for just that in a rematch with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia this Saturday.
That’s the scene of Strickland’s shock upset of Israel Adesanya back in 2023. He’d lose the title to Du Plessis in his first attempt at defending it, dropping the belt to Du Plessis at UFC 297 in Toronto, a close split decision that Strickland maintains he won.
South Africa’s Du Plessis went on to defeat Adesanya in his first title defense. And truth be told, had Robert Whittaker defeated Khamzat Chimaev last year, it would likely be “The Repear” paired up with Du Plessis this Saturday, with Whittaker one of the area’s biggest stars.
Instead, Chimaev crushed his jaw and is now waiting in the wings as the likely foil for the winner of Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2.
The UFC has, as star power faded from the promotion in recent years, taken to doubling up on title fights with more regularity, and so it’s no surprise to see Weili Zhang return at UFC 312. The surprise, in fact, might be her opponent: Tatiana Suarez had a fight booked at the end of 2024, but was yanked and given a shot at gold. After struggling for years with injuries, she picked up two wins in 2023 to improve to 10-0, but wound up sitting out all of 2024. Can she both win, and remain healthy enough to defend her title following Saturday’s contest, should she come away triumphant? That last part might be the biggest question for The Ultimate Fighter 23 winner.
Ahead of UFC 312, tune in for the pre-fight press conference, which goes live at 2AM ET on January 6, 11PM PT Jan. 5. A live stream is embedded above.
