Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland will clash over the middleweight title at UFC 312 this weekend, a year after their brutal first encounter.
In January 2024, Du Plessis dethroned Strickland with a narrow decision victory, becoming South Africa’s first UFC champion. Strickland immediately eyed a rematch but was instead tasked with beating Paulo Costa, which the controversial American did in June – two months before Du Plessis submitted Israel Adesanya to retain the title.
Now the rivals run it back in Australia, after the UFC 312 co-main event sees Zhang Weili defend her strawweight belt against Tatiana Suarez.
Zhang is two years into her second reign as champion, but Suarez is seen by many as the Chinese star’s toughest opponent yet.
Here’s all you need to know.
When is UFC 312 and what time does it start?
UFC 312 takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday 8 February.
The early prelims will start at 11pm GMT (3pm PT / 5pm CT / 6pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am GMT on Sunday 9 February (5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card then takes place at 3am GMT on Sunday (7pm PT / 9pm CT / 10pm ET on Saturday). Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 is expected to start after 5am GMT on Sunday (9pm PT / 11pm CT on Saturday / 12am on Sunday).
How can I watch UFC 312?
The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. Discovery+ will also air the action in the UK. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the event live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.
Odds
Du Plessis – 4/9; Strickland – 7/4
Zhang – 10/11; Suarez – 10/11
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Full card (subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion)
Main card
Dricus Du Plessis (C) vs Sean Strickland 2 (middleweight title)
Zhang Weili (C) vs Tatiana Suarez (women’s strawweight title)
Justin Tafa vs Tallison Teixeira (heavyweight)
Jimmy Crute vs Rodolfo Bellato (light-heavyweight)
Jake Matthews vs Francisco Prado (welterweight)
Prelims
Jack Jenkins vs Gabriel Santos (featherweight)
Tom Nolan vs Viacheslav Borshchev (lightweight)
Wang Cong vs Bruna Brasil (women’s flyweight)
Colby Thicknesse vs Aleksandre Topuria (bantamweight)
Early prelims
Rongzhu vs Kody Steele (lightweight)
Jonathan Micallef vs Kevin Jousset (welterweight)
Quillan Salkilld vs Anshul Jubli (lightweight)
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