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Brett Okamoto
Dricus Du Plessis already had a win over Sean Strickland going into UFC 312. What he wanted was an exclamation point over him — and that’s what he got.
Du Plessis (23-2) left no doubt about his superiority on Saturday in Sydney, as he beat Strickland (29-7) for the second time in a 185-pound title fight. Although the defending champion couldn’t put away Strickland, he dominated the cards, earning a unanimous decision by marks of 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.
It was different from their first meeting in January 2024, which Du Plessis won by majority decision.
“I told you that when I come here, I’m trying to get the knockout, but to knock out that man is next to impossible,” said Du Plessis, who was credited with 129 total strikes landed. “I wanted a submission, a KO, or an absolute five-round domination, and that’s what I got.”
The South African champion challenged light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who was in Strickland’s corner on Saturday. Though a move up in weight is always possible, Du Plessis has plenty of challenges at middleweight, including undefeated challenger Khamzat Chimaev.
After the result, Chimaev posted a short message on X, “Biggest bulls— is this fight.”
Though there are plenty of potential options for Du Plessis, one name that is firmly in his rearview mirror is Strickland. Strickland, 33, believed he should have beat Du Plessis on the scorecards when they met 13 months ago in Toronto, and expressed confidence in the rematch. He failed to get much going, however, and was essentially a sitting duck once Du Plessis broke his nose in the fourth.
Du Plessis’ right hand caused the broken nose, which was obvious. Du Plessis chased Strickland around the Octagon, as Strickland pawed and wiped his nose. Strickland pointed to the injury in his postfight comments, and admitted it somewhat took him out of the bout.
“The game plan was to stay calm, and that was really hard once I saw him grabbing at his nose like that,” Du Plessis said. “It’s like having someone in front of you who is rocked. It took me 30 seconds to a minute to get back my composure. I don’t want to make a habit of [going to decision], but against a competitor like [Strickland], it happens.”
Du Plessis targeted Strickland with the left head kick in the opening round and continued to find success with it throughout the fight. Strickland occasionally landed his jab and right-hand counters, but his corner seemed to acknowledge he was a step behind, as head coach Eric Nicksick pleaded with him to increase volume between rounds.
ESPN ranked Du Plessis the No. 9 pound-for-pound fighter in the world going into Saturday.