Tag: UFC 312

Sean Strickland’s Coach Explains Picking Dricus Du Plessis As ‘Toughest Challenge’ Over Khamzat Chimaev

Sean Strickland is set to challenge for the UFC middleweight title for the second time in his upcoming rematch with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312. The former champion stuck to the idea that he would wait for his shot at “Stillknocks” following his win over Paulo Costa in June and it paid off for […]

Sean Strickland is set to challenge for the UFC middleweight title for the second time in his upcoming rematch with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312. The former champion stuck to the idea that he would wait for his shot at “Stillknocks” following his win over Paulo Costa in June and it paid off for him with the fight being announced this past weekend at UFC 310.

For his head coach at Xtreme Couture, Eric Nicksick, the next few months will be all about looking at what they need to do differently in order to defeat Du Plessis in Sydney, Australia. Their first meeting at UFC 297 came down to a close split decision that saw the South African become the 185-pound champion.

For several weeks following his submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, it looked like the promotion might be heading towards Khamzat Chimaev as the next title challenger for Du Plessis. Though they aren’t thinking about it right now, both teams will know that if they come out on top in February, Chimaev will likely be their next opponent.

Nicksick spoke in a recent interview with Submission Radio about which opponent is a bigger threat to Strickland out of the current champion and the other top contender in the division. He explained why in his opinion, as of right now, Du Plessis is their biggest challenge.

“I mean, you would have to say [Dricus du Plessis] because he won, he beat us. Right now you have to say that [he’s the tougher matchup] because that’s the task at hand. I think Khamzat presents tons of different variables to his style that we’re gonna have to look at how to break down once that challenge presents itself. But right now, DDP is the toughest challenge for us.”

Dricus Du Plessis Calls Sean Strickland’s Style ‘Boring’ and ‘Unentertaining’ – ‘I’m Here to Give Fans a Show’

Dricus Du Plessis Calls Sean Strickland’s Style ‘Boring’ and ‘Unentertaining’ - ‘I’m Here to Give Fans a Show’Dricus Du Plessis isn’t particularly fond of Sean Strickland’s pitter-pattering inside the Octagon. After securing a split decision victory…

Dricus Du Plessis Calls Sean Strickland’s Style ‘Boring’ and ‘Unentertaining’ - ‘I’m Here to Give Fans a Show’

Dricus Du Plessis isn’t particularly fond of Sean Strickland’s pitter-pattering inside the Octagon.

After securing a split decision victory over Strickland last January to claim the middleweight title, the two will run it back on February 8 when the promotion heads back to Sydney, Australia for UFC 312.

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In the time since their initial five-round affair, Du Plessis has logged a fourth-round submission victory over two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya while ‘Tarzan’ added yet another split decision win to his resume, besting Paulo Costa in June.

Strickland’s scrap against Costa left a lot to be desired and ‘DDP’ didn’t shy away from throwing some shade at Strickland for overpromising and under-delivering in yet another fight.

“Yeah, I mean, Paulo Costa and Strickland’s last fight… I mean, nothing’s changed. And that’s, that’s… that’s… no, it looked boring like every other fight,” Du Plessis said during an interview on FOX Sports Australia. “Walking forward, jabbing, tipping, it wasn’t an exciting fight. And then you look at the Sean fight, people go like, ‘Did you see that last 30 seconds?’ I say 30 seconds. It’s a five-rounder, and Sean goes…

“No, it was a bad performance from his side. It wasn’t a bad performance. It was the most normal performance for him ever. You know, in our fight, I remember there was a stage in the fight where I was walking forward, but he just kept moving away and moving away, and I thought to myself, ‘I’m gonna stand here, maybe he gets the confidence to walk forward and then we can, you know, punch it out.’ And he just dropped his hands a little and said, ‘Cool.’ He has no problem with the crowd booing his fighting style. He has no problem with that.

“Unfortunately for me, I don’t… I don’t have that in me. I’m there to entertain. I’m there to give the fans a show, and, uh, I’m not there just to win fights. That is only 50% of our jobs: to win that fight. The other 50% is going out there and giving a show, like I always do.”

Du Plessis continues to slam split-decision machine Sean Strickland

Despite his tough talk on social media and a penchant for KOing his sparring partners, Strickland rarely brings that same energy inside the Octagon. Through 22 career fights under the UFC banner, he has only ended things inside the distance five times, including four knockouts and one submission.

Strickland’s last finish came against Abus Magomedov in July 2023. Before that, you’d have to go all the way back to November 2020 when he TKO’d Brendan Allen in the second round of a Fight Night scrap in Las Vegas.

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“Now sure, like I said, his fighting style was very, very effective in avoiding damage and, you know, winning by decision,” Du Plessis continued. “The man has eight split-decision victories. I mean, that in itself has to tell you why, um… or split-decision a fight in the UFC? That in itself has to tell you, listen, the man’s not going out there to finish fights or to entertain.

“Now, is he more entertaining in a fight? Definitely more than he is in the fight. I have to say that. But, you know, it’s effective and it works for him, I guess.”

Meanwhile, ‘Stillknocks’ has a 75% finish rate in the UFC, putting away six of his eight opponents, including Darren Till, Derek Brunson, Robert Whittaker, and ‘The Last Stylebender.’ Overall, Du Plessis has 20 career finishes against 22 total victories, making him one of the UFC’s most prolific finishers.

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Robert Whittaker Gives Strickland ‘Props’ For Sticking To His Guns, Predicts Du Plessis Rematch

Just over a year on from their first meeting, middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former titleholder Sean Strickland are set to meet in a rematch at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. Following his bounce back win over Paulo Costa in June, Strickland has remained confident that he deserved the opportunity to fight for the […]

Just over a year on from their first meeting, middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former titleholder Sean Strickland are set to meet in a rematch at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. Following his bounce back win over Paulo Costa in June, Strickland has remained confident that he deserved the opportunity to fight for the title again.

His first encounter with “Stillknocks” at UFC 297 went the way of the South African via a split decision and though the fight was close, there weren’t a ton of people calling for the rematch to take place. This was especially true following Khamzat Chimaev’s recent win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 where Du Plessis said himself that a matchup with the undefeated contender would excite him more than running it back with Strickland.

In a recent episode of his MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker gave his reaction to the fight announcement. The former champion took his hat off to Strickland for sticking to his guns and getting what he asked for even when it looked like it might slip away from him.

“I’m surprised Sean just literally sat out. Like everyone was laughing at him when he said, ‘I’m going to sit out till I get my title shot.’ Dude straight up got a title shot, props for that. You got to give it him, guy like straight up stuck by what he said.”

Despite this, Whittaker isn’t sure that Strickland will be able to make the adjustments needed to reclaim the middleweight title.

“In my opinion, I don’t see the fight going any different. Du Plessis is such a dog in there, he’s going to come with the same aggressiveness and game plan. What could Sean do differently to change the outcome than last time? Okay because if we look at it, it doesn’t happen often but the challenger beats a champion by decision, okay. Du Plessis did that and now he’s a champion and that was a close first fight, you know what I mean. You see where I’m angling with this. I just don’t know what Sean can do differently to change the outcome from happening again.”

Dricus Du Plessis On UFC Dismissing His Chimaev Preference For Next Defense: ‘Just For Clarification…’ 

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis insists he is not “unhappy” about the promotion’s decision regarding his next challenger. During this past weekend’s pay-per-view broadcast, it was announced that Du Plessis will return to Australia — the site of his successful first defense against Israel Adesanya in August — to headline UFC 312 at Sydney’s […]

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis insists he is not “unhappy” about the promotion’s decision regarding his next challenger.

During this past weekend’s pay-per-view broadcast, it was announced that Du Plessis will return to Australia — the site of his successful first defense against Israel Adesanya in August — to headline UFC 312 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.

Against him will be former champ Sean Strickland, who staked his claim for a chance at redemption opposite the man who dethroned him this past January when he outpointed Paulo Costa in a lackluster affair four months later. But while his shot has ultimately come to fruition, there was some doubt prior to the recent reveal.

The undefeated Khamzat Chimaev ran through Robert Whittaker in quick time at UFC 308 in October, garnering support for his claim to the next opportunity at Du Plessis’ belt. Even the champ himself made it clear that he favored a first-time clash with “Borz.”

But although that evidently fell on deaf ears, the South African says he’s more than happy to beat whomever the UFC places in front of him.

“Just for clarification, I preferred the Khamzat fight but the rematch is a fight most wanted before Khamzat vs (Whittaker),” Du Plessis wrote on X. “I’m not unhappy with the UFC’s decision. Like I said, I’ll fight the man fans think is the next best guy he was promised the fight so Strickland it is.”

He did, however, reiterate his belief that Strickland is not truly deserving of the shot at UFC 312 in response to a commenter.

“I have to agree with you on that one”

After falling on the right side of a split decision to capture the crown at Strickland’s expense in Canada, “Stillknocks” continued to prove his doubters wrong by submitting former two-time champ Adesanya at UFC 305.

Du Plessis will now look to secure a more definitive victory over Strickland to extend his lead in their rivalry to 2-0, before likely turning attention to Chimaev later in the year.

Dricus Du Plessis Reacts To Confirmation Of Sean Strickland Rematch: ‘They’ll Call It Attempted Murder…’ 

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis is looking to put a stamp on his rivalry with Sean Strickland when they run it back early next year. As 2024 approaches its conclusion, Du Plessis already has his first assignment of the new year in the calendar. After being crowned 185-pound kingpin this past January and subsequently […]

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis is looking to put a stamp on his rivalry with Sean Strickland when they run it back early next year.

As 2024 approaches its conclusion, Du Plessis already has his first assignment of the new year in the calendar. After being crowned 185-pound kingpin this past January and subsequently defending that status against Israel Adesanya in Australia seven months later, “Stillknocks” will return Down Under.

The promotion confirmed during this past weekend’s pay-per-view broadcast that Du Plessis will headline February’s UFC 312 event in Sydney, running it back with the man at the expense of whom he won the middleweight belt, the #1-ranked Strickland.

Reacting to that announcement on social media this week, the South African vowed to record a more definitive triumph over the polarizing American former champ.

“This time they won’t call it a robbery, they’ll call it attempted murder. #UFC312 #preparetobeamazed”

The pair first met in Strickland’s sole title defense in Canada, with the then-challenger falling on the right side of a split decision verdict following five rounds of close and competitive action.

While “Tarzan’s” only bout since then saw him emerge victorious from a lackluster contest with Paulo Costa, he’s gotten the nod for a shot at redemption opposite Du Plessis over Khamzat Chimaev, whose own claim to an opportunity gained support after he ran through Robert Whittaker in October.

Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 will top a lineup that features two title fights, the other being a highly anticipated strawweight championship contest between Zhang Weili and the undefeated Tatiana Suarez.

Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 Early Odds for UFC 312

Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland Early OddsDricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland are set to clash in a highly anticipated middleweight title rematch at UFC…

Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland Early Odds

Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland are set to clash in a highly anticipated middleweight title rematch at UFC 312 on February 8, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. This bout comes just over a year after their first encounter, where du Plessis claimed the title from Strickland in a closely contested split decision at UFC 297.

Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 Early Odds

The odds for the upcoming UFC middleweight title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland are quite close. As of the most recent information available, Sean Strickland is a slight favorite over Dricus du Plessis. The odds are close in this fight, so it might be best to request promo code DraftKings with Oddschecker right here.

According to one sportsbook, Strickland’s odds were set at -155, while du Plessis was listed as the underdog at +135. This means that if you were to bet $155 on Strickland, you would win $100 if he emerged victorious. Conversely, a $100 bet on du Plessis would net you $135 if he wins the fight. However, it’s important to note that odds can fluctuate as the fight date approaches and more bets are placed. Another sportsbook listed slightly different odds, with du Plessis at -110 and Strickland at -103. These tighter odds suggest that bookmakers view this as an extremely close contest, with neither fighter having a significant advantage.

Dricus du Plessis, the 30-year-old South African champion, enters the fight with an impressive 22-2 record and is riding a 10-fight winning streak. He’s been on a tear since joining the UFC, remaining undefeated in the promotion and finishing six of his eight opponents. Du Plessis has proven himself against top competition, having defeated three former champions, including a submission victory over Israel Adesanya in his first title defense.

Sean Strickland, the 33-year-old American challenger, boasts a 29-6 record. He shocked the MMA world in September 2023 by defeating Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title, only to lose it to du Plessis in his first defense. Since then, Strickland has bounced back with a split decision win over Paulo Costa, earning him this rematch opportunity.

Du Plessis aims to solidify his reign as champion and prove that his first victory over Strickland wasn’t a fluke. For Strickland, this is a chance at redemption and to reclaim the title he briefly held. Both men have a lot to prove, with du Plessis looking to cement his status as the division’s top dog, while Strickland seeks to show he belongs among the elite.

UFC 312 marks the promotion’s seventh visit to Sydney, and this high-stakes middleweight title fight is sure to excite the Australian crowd. As the MMA world eagerly anticipates this rematch, one thing is certain: both du Plessis and Strickland will leave everything in the Octagon as they battle for the middleweight throne.