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Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland are set for a title rematch at UFC 312 on February 8th.
Strickland lost the title to Du Plessis via split decision earlier this year after winning the belt against Israel Adesanya in September 2023.
In addition to the title rematch, Zhang Weili will defend the women’s strawweight title against undefeated Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event.
Prior to UFC 305, Du Plessis successfully defended his title once, defeating former champion Adesanya via fourth-round submission in August. The 30-year-old middleweight from South Africa has a professional record of 22-2, including nine wins by TKO and eleven by submission.
In October, Du Plessis expressed his desire to face undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev rather than pursue a rematch with Strickland, a fight UFC CEO Dana White suggested earlier this year.
It was Chimaev’s first-round win over Robert Whittaker in late October that made Du Plessis want to face the 14-0 rising superstar.
“The conversations were more about my fight against Strickland,” Du Plessis told ESPN, according to Brett Okamoto. “But there was a very important reason why no contracts were signed and I say that as an opinion. I’ve agreed to fight Strickland, perfect – and that’s the fight the fans want. But if you keep going, what.” What the fans want right now is definitely not the Strickland fight.
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Dricus Du Plessis will defend his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 312 in Australia on February 8, 2025. pic.twitter.com/dOFh3IZv96
His desire to fight Chimaev was also fueled by fan support and input.
“If you ask what I want, I want to fight the best. I want to fight the guy the fans expect me to be. And that is 100 percent Khamzat,” said Okamoto.
Despite his pleas, the title rematch between the two veterans is officially scheduled.