Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland are set to battle it out this weekend in Australia and settle their rematch at UFC 312. Du Plessis is looking to defeat Strickland for the second time as he won a razor thin matchup at UFC 297 via split decision. Many called the matchup controversial as Strickland out-struck the South African as many described his loss as a “robbery.” Since then Strickland held his No. 1 contender rank by defeating Paulo Costa while Du Plessis defended his belt against the legend, Israel Adesanya.
Dricus Du Plessis Didn’t expect strickland title fight
Dricus Du Plessis admitted that the initial fight between him and Sean Strickland was a bit unexpected. It was unexpected because not many people gave Strickland any chance of defeating Adesanya. On top of that, many people didn’t expect Du Plessis to make a significant climb in the middleweight ranks. The fight between the two creeped up out of nowhere with not many people expecting it.
“See, the first one—the first fight—was kind of a random fight. Myself and Stickland—because, firstly, nobody expected him to win a title. Then, nobody expected me to even get close to the top 10.And here we are, the champion and the contender. And the fight was a war. I won the fight on points.”
–Dricus Du Plessis
While the fight was unexpected, the two men put on a war that came to decision that saw Du Plessis edge out Strickland by a split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48). While the two had big wins in between the anticipated rematch, many people believed it should’ve been immediate due to the close decision.
Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 hype
Many fans have claimed the UFC 312 card to be a bit weaker compared to others, but the main event itself is definitely worth the hype. Both Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland have had their intense moments including trading verbal blows at their press conference and a breakout fight in the crowd leading up to their initial fight.
The two middleweights will get to settle their differences this weekend as the matchup is highly anticipated and would be a major step for what’s next in the division. According to DraftKings, the champion Du Plessis (-205) is currently favored while Strickland (+170) sits as the underdog.
