By Shaheen Al-Shatti
IF THERE was any lingering doubt, Dricus du Plessis shut it down for good in his UFC 312 rematch with Sean Strickland.
Just 13 months after their polarizing first meeting, du Plessis bloodied Strickland and badly shattered the American’s nose en route to a one-sided unanimous decision to defend his UFC middleweight title on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 312 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
After 25 minutes of du Plessis dictating the action and leading the dance, the judges scored the bout 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 for the South African champion.
“I said it before, to knock him out is next to impossible,” du Plessis said post-fight. “I would’ve loved another round but that’s not the game. I told you I want a submission or a knockout or an absolutely domination of a five-rounder. That’s what I gave.
“I am a top-three pound-for-pound fighter as of tonight, and I’m coming for that No. 1 spot.”
Du Plessis (23-2) defeated Strickland (29-7) in a somewhat controversial split decision in January 2024 to capture the 185-pound title, though Strickland has remained adamant that he should’ve won the bout.
But du Plessis, 31, closed the book on the duo’s rivalry in resounding fashion on Saturday, beating Strickland, 33, in a pure striking affair and badly damaging his outspoken challenger.
“DDP” consistently found a home early with an array of punches and kicks to the midsection and legs of Strickland, softening Strickland’s trademark Philly Shell defense and opening up opportunities for hard shots upstairs in the later rounds. Du Plessis connected with a thunderous spinning backfist and spinning back elbow in the third round, but it was the right hand bomb that broke Strickland’s nose in the fourth round that proved to be the shot of the night.
Blood instantly started streaming from Stickland’s nose like a faucet, leaving the challenger wearing a crimson mask and prompting du Plessis to dial up his aggression even further. Strickland’s toughness combined with his meat-and-potatoes game of jabs and teep kicks kept him alive and allowed him to reach the final bell, but his corner’s desperate calls to up his volume fell on deaf ears all night long, as Strickland failed to ever get out of first gear.
Strickland has now lost two of his past three bouts since stunning Israel Adesanya to capture the UFC middleweight title in 2023 in one of the biggest upsets in recent years.
“When that f***er broke my nose, I was like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t feel right,’ popped it back in place, I kept fighting for you,” Strickland said post-fight.
“The Dutchman is a bad motherf***er, he kicked my ass fair and square, props to him.”
One notable adjustment for du Plessis in the rematch was a complete abandonment of his wrestling. Du Plessis landed six of 11 takedown attempts in his 2024 battle with Strickland, but only went 1-of-2 in Saturday’s rematch. Nonetheless, he outstruck Strickland 149 to 128 in total strikes.
With his latest victory and second successful defense of the UFC middleweight title, South Africa’s du Plessis moves into a tie with Chris Weidman for third-longest win streak (9) in UFC middleweight history, falling only behind former UFC champions Adesanya (12) and Anderson Silva (13).
Even in defeat, however, there was one silver lining for Strickland — he surpassed retired MMA legend Michael Bisping to claim sole ownership of the most significant strikes landed in UFC middleweight history. – Yahoo Sport
