Du Plessis puts middleweight title on the line in rematch with Strickland in UFC 312

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Dricus Du Plessis disagrees that his previous fight with Sean Strickland should have been a split decision, but acknowledged he had to earn the victory that night just more than a year ago for the middleweight belt.

Now they meet again in UFC 312 on Sunday in Sydney, and Du Plessis doesn't want to leave the outcome in the judges' hands, comparing a split decision to a coin flip that could easily go the other way.

“We got lucky with the split decision," the champion said. "Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here now. I am very happy that they made this fight. I was asking for this fight.”

In the co-main event, China’s Zhang Weili (25-3) will defend her strawweight championship against top-ranked challenger Tatiana Suarez (11-0) of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Zhang has won her past three title defenses, two by unanimous decision and the other by second-round submission.

This is the second title defense for the 31-year-old Du Plessis (22-2), a -210 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook. He defeated Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.

Strickland (29-6) gets his shot not only at revenge, but at getting back his belt. However, in a wide-ranging news conference that covered little about the fight, Strickland, the top-ranked challenger, didn't endear himself Down Under by questioning Australia's laws and hurling other insults.

“I would like to consider Australians as English white trash and even some Irish,” Strickland said. “As an American white trash, I feel like I have a lot in common with you (expletive).”

The Daily Telegraph put a large photo of Strickland on its back page Thursday with the headline begging someone to “knock this guy out.”

Du Plessis will give it his best against Strickland, who turns 34 on Feb. 27. But if the first meeting was any indication, an early submission is unlikely. That's the only time since joining the UFC in 2020 that Du Plessis has gone into the fifth round.

“Getting to that fifth round in a war like that proved to myself that I can do it," Du Plessis said. "It’s easy to say. It’s easy to do it in the fight camp, in the training, but doing it in the octagon is a bit different against a world-class fighter.”

He said to not expect a replay of that fight, that both sides will make adjustments.

The lead-up to the first meeting was much more tense and personal, and both fighters even lobbed punches at each other at another UFC event a month earlier.

Du Plessis was much more complimentary of his opponent this week, and Strickland said nothing especially disparaging of his competitor.

“I think Strickland is the best middleweight in the world right now behind me, and he deserves to be here," Du Plessis said. "I know he’s an incredible, incredible fighter. He’s so good defensively. He’s tough. He’s hard to hit, and when you hit him, it doesn’t have that effect as on a normal guy. This man is an apex predator, so this is the toughest fight of my life coming up, and I’m ready for that because I’m an apex predator and he’s in my area right now.”

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