Dricus Du Plessis rearranges Sean Strickland’s face

Dricus Du Plessis retained his middleweight crown in a bloody title rematch against Sean Strickland, leaving no doubt this time around.

The middleweight title bout was the UFC 312 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) outworked Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) over 25 minutes to earn unanimous scores from the judges .

In the first round, Du Plessis patiently worked his way around Strickland’s tight defense. The champ offered a variety of kicks, going to the head with a few while also finding home for a few punches. Strickland maintained his signature straight-standing stance, popping out quick jabs and teeps.

The volume of strikes increased early in Round 2. After a series of punches connected in a heated exchange, blood was drawn on both fighters: Du Plessis from the bridge of his nose and Strickland from the mouth. Du Plessis kept the tempo high as the round wore on, while Strickland became more defensive.

Strickland’s corner called for more urgency before Round 3 as they felt the fight could be slipping away. Strickland heeded that call by coming forward a little more frequently, but was still outstruck by Du Plessis. The crowd began booing midway through the frame as well. Du Plessis recorded the first takedown of the fight, but couldn’t do anything with it.

In Round 4, Du Plessis destroyed Strickland’s nose with powerful punches. Strickland backed away after a combination and blood began pouring as he reached up to assess the damage. Du Plessis recognized his handiwork and went for the finish, but couldn’t find it despite connecting with more strikes.

STRICKLAND’S NOSE 😳 #UFC312 pic.twitter.com/CHWTkdJqmJ

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 9, 2025

Between rounds, Strickland acknowledged his nose was broken, but he told his corner he reset it himself. With five minutes to work, Strickland needed to finish the fight to reclaim the middleweight title, but was unable to stop Du Plessis from coming forward with strikes.

“I am a top three pound-for-pound fighter as of tonight, and I’m coming for that No. 1 spot,” Du Plessis said during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.

With the win, Du Plessis notches his second title defense. He claimed the title by narrowly defeating Strickland at UFC 297 by split decision, and recorded his first defense by submitting Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

Strickland fought his way back into another title shot by winning a split decision over Paulo Costa at UFC 302, but couldn’t get the job done.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 312 results include:

• Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via
• Zhang Weili def. Tatiana Suarez via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
• Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:35
• Rodolfo Bellato vs. Jimmy Crute ruled a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
• Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:06
• Tom Nolan def. Viacheslav Borshchev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Wang Cong def. Bruna Brasil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Aleksandre Topuria def. Colby Thicknesse via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rong Zhu def. Kody Steele via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jonathan Micallef def. Kevin Jousset via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:19

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.