If it was up to Dricus Du Plessis, he’d be defending his UFC middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev.
Instead, Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will run things back with Sean Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) in the UFC 312 headliner Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Du Plessis narrowly defeated Strickland by split decision to capture the middleweight title at UFC 297 last January. In the year since, Strickland has maintained he was robbed by the judges and should’ve kept the belt.
Strickland was declared No. 1 contender after rebounding with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 in June, and Du Plessis obliged – even though he disagrees with the matchmaking.
“Just for clarification I preferred the Khamzat fight but the rematch is a fight most wanted before Khamzat vs. Whittaker,” Du Plessis wrote on X. I’m not unhappy with the UFC’s decision. Like I said, I’ll fight the man fans think is the next best guy. He was promised the fight so Strickland it is.”
Du Plessis saw Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) as a more intriguing challenge after the unbeaten contender ran through former champion Robert Whittaker by first-round submission in October.
When a fan on X suggested Chimaev would beat both UFC 312 headliners, Du Plessis was quick to snap back:
“He can’t even beat his own immune system.”
After dethroning Strickland to start the year, Du Plessis notched his first title defense with a fourth-round submission of former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
