UFC 312 Main Event Pick
The UFC heads down to Australia for a pair of world title fights. The co-main event features strawweight queen, Zhang Weili, looking to defend her title against the biggest threat in the division, Tatiana Suarez. In the main event, we get a middleweight title fight which is a rematch of the UFC 297 headliner from January 2024. Read more UFC 312 main event pick.
Champion, Dricus Du Plessis, looks to close the book on his rivalry with the American, while notching his second title defense.
>>>Sean Strickland aims to prove that he deserved to get his hand raised in their first fight, one that he had lost by split decision.
Will the awkward, unorthodox, and comical style of Du Plessis pay off once again? Or will Strickland give us a classic performance and put the belt back around his waist? Read on to see how these middleweights’ matchup and how this rematch should go down.
Dricus Du Plessis
Entering the UFC back in October 2020, not many people had Du Plessis on their radar as a guy that could make a big impact in the promotion. He was mostly known for pulling off an upset against a high-level fighter from KSW, but that was quickly avenged in his following matchup.
He only entered the UFC with a two-fight winning streak. However, he has slowly clawed his way to the top, putting together a six-fight winning streak in the UFC to earn a title shot last year. He made good on that and defended it against former long-time champion, Israel Adesanya.
It’s widely agreed that Du Plessis is the best worst fighter in the world. Technically speaking, he does not do much right. Most of his success comes from his physicality, explosiveness, and ability to dig deep in later rounds.
Cardio has been a topic that most harp on, but since joining the UFC, he has won all 4 fights that have reached the third round, finishing 2 of them. It may not be the typical way of going about it, but Du Plessis gets the job done and we are just left wondering how he continues to do it.
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Sean Strickland
Not many expected Strickland to make much noise in the middleweight division after going 7-3 as a welterweight. However, he managed to return from a scary motorcycle accident and put together a five-fight winning streak at middleweight, which eventually lined him up against Alex Pereira.
That obviously didn’t go his way, and he was then put up against Jared Cannonier and lost a very controversial decision to end 2022. He got back on the horse, put together two more wins and got his crack at Israel Adesanya and the title. It was meant to be a routine title defense for Adesanya, but Strickland pulled off a major upset that night and won the belt. Strickland would go on to lose it by split decision in his following bout against his opponent this weekend but get back in the win column in June with a 5-round decision win over Paulo Costa.
I believe Strickland thought of the Costa fight to stay busy while Du Plessis got the grudge match with Adesanya. Luckily Strickland came out on top and showcased the classic style we’ve come to know from him.
Slow, steady pace to break opponents down and drown them in deep water. Keeping the same pace and tempo from minute 1 to 25, Strickland keeps moving forward and rolling with the offense coming back his way. He has solid BJJ chops, but does not lean on it all that often, but may be helpful for him this weekend to make things a little more convincing.
The Pick
It’s wild to me that the first fight was a pick ‘em and now we find Strickland down at +170. It was a split decision, it was a very close fight, and scoring was all over the place amongst the masses. So, to get Strickland at +175 in a fight that could be considered a coin toss, it seems like a no-brainer.
Of course, even keeping the odds out of it, Strickland has the defense, durability, and cardio to make Du Plessis struggle. I believe we’ll see a much-improved version of Strickland who will know when to push to make optics line up in his favor. And New!
