UFC 312 Fight Card: Du Plessis Vs. Strickland 2

The next pay-per-view fight card on the 2025 UFC schedule takes place on Saturday, February 8. That event, UFC 312, features a middleweight title fight rematch in the main event spot. That contest pits current champ Dricus du Plessis against the man he took the title from in January 2024, Sean Strickland. In the evening’s co-main event, UFC women’s strawweight titleholder Zhang Weili faces Tatiana Suarez. Below, we look at the betting odds for the Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 fight and offer our preview, picks, and predictions for the title fight.

UFC 312 Fight Card: Du Plessis Vs. Strickland 2 Preview

Dricus du Plessis (22-2) joined the UFC in October 2020 as a 26-year-old with a 14-2 record. Before he joined the UFC, Du Plessis had won titles with KSW and EFC. He made his debut against Markus Perez on the main card of a UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi. Du Plessis knocked out Perez in the first round. He followed that win with a July 2021 “Performance of the Night” KO win of Trevin Giles.

Those two wins earned him a shot against the ranked veteran Brad Tavares. Du Plessis won that scrap via decision. The victory put him in the top 15 of the division. A December 2022 submission win over Darren Till moved Du Plessis to No. 10 in the division. A TKO win over the No. 5 ranked Derek Brunson followed.

Du Plessis, who was working his way up the rankings, faced a tough test in his next outing when he met the No. 2 ranked Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Du Plessis continued his rise, knocking out the former UFC champion in the UFC middleweight title eliminator and earning another “Performance of the Night” bonus.

More important than the bonus was the title shot Du Plessis received for that win. He faced then-champion Sean Strickland in January, taking the title from Strickland in a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning scrap.

Since then, Du Plessis is 1-0 with an August 2024 submission win over former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.

Sean Strickland (29-6) joined the UFC in March 2014 after winning the King of the Cage middleweight title and defending that crown four times. His first two fights with the promotion were at 185 pounds, but he dropped to welterweight in 2015 and stayed at that weight until 2018. A motorcycle accident kept Strickland out of the Octagon for over two years. When he returned to action in October 2020, he did so at 185 pounds.

Strickland went 5-0 at middleweight before the UFC booked him against a rising Alex Pereira in July 2022. At the time, Strickland was ranked No. 4 in the division, while Pereira was unranked. Strickland was a -125 favorite over Pereira, who was the +105 underdog. Pereira won that fight, knocking out Strickland in 2:36. A split-decision loss to Jared Cannonier followed for Strickland.

Two wins later, with one of those bouts being at light heavyweight, Strickland found himself booked against then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Strickland entered the contest as the +490 betting underdog to the champ, who was a -675 favorite. Strickland won the title, beating Adesanya by unanimous decision (49-46 x 3). His title reign lasted from September 10, 2023 to January 20, 2024 when Dricus du Plessis defeated him via split decision at UFC 297.

Strickland has fought once since losing his title to Du Plessis, beating Paulo Costa by split decision in June.

UFC 312 Fight Card: Du Plessis Vs. Strickland 2 Betting Odds

When the betting odds opened for the UFC 312 main event, Du Plessis was a -145 betting favorite over Strickland, who opened as the +125 betting underdog. Those odds have widened. Today, the champ is listed at -205, while the former titleholder is +175.

*Odds via BetOnline

UFC 312 Fight Card: Du Plessis Vs. Strickland 2 – Significant Stats

Du Plessis lands 6.18 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy of 49 percent. His striking defense is 54 percent, and he absorbs an average of 4.85 strikes per minute. Du Plessis averages 3.04 takedowns per 15 minutes with an accuracy of 50 percent. His takedown defense is 50 percent.

Strickland averages 6.01 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 42 percent. His striking defense is 61 percent, and he gets hit, on average, 4.48 times per minute. Strickland, not known for his wrestling, averages 0.78 takedowns per minute with a takedown rate of 64 percent. His takedown defense is 77 percent.

UFC 312 Fight Card: Du Plessis Vs. Strickland 2 – Picks and Predictions

I tend to agree with former UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker when it comes to this fight. There’s nothing that Strickland can show us that he didn’t reveal in the first meeting between these two. With that, the betting pick is for Dricus du Plessis to beat Sean Strickland by decision.

Whittaker on Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2:

“I don’t have a ton to say because if we look at their last fight, Sean lost as the champ. Okay, yeah. How does his second fight play out differently? Granted, it was controversial, but he lost the decision as the champ,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade podcast. If this fight doesn’t change in any drastic way, he’s not the champ, you know? And I just don’t know what Sean does differently. Sean fights the way he fights. I don’t know how he fights differently than he did in that first fight against Dricus and I don’t see Dricus fighting any differently against Sean.”

UFC 312 Fight Card Date

Saturday, February 8, 2025

UFC 312 Fight Card Location

Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia

UFC 312 Fight Card Time

Early Prelims (6:00 p.m. ET), Prelims (8:00 p.m. ET), PPV Card (10:00 p.m. ET)

UFC 312 FIght Card How to Watch or Stream

Early Prelims (UFC Fight Pass, ESPN+), Prelims (ESPN2, ESPN+), PPV Card (ESPN+ PPV)

UFC 312 Fight Card: Zhang Vs. Suarez – Odds, Picks And Predictions

Stay tuned for more coverage from the UFC 312 fight card, as well as results, reactions, recaps on fight night.