UFC took place on Feb 8th at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. Dricus Du Plessis defended the middleweight title against challenger and former middleweight champion Sean Strickland. Strickland lost the title in a previous bout with Du Plessis during UFC 297, which he lost in a very close split decision. Strickland has insisted in multiple interviews he won the previous bout with Du Plessis, regardless of Du Plessis entering UFC 312 as the middleweight champion. Strickland had won several bouts prior to UFC 312 and had called upon UFC CEO Dana White for another shot at the Middleweight title. Dricus Du Plessis hailing from South Africa entered the ring paying homage to his home country with the South African flag draped across his back while the South African national anthem played. Strickland had entered the ring moments before looking charged and ready to reclaim the lost title. Strickland had insisted he would “fight to the death”, in a prefight interview, that claim would come back to haunt him as he delivered a tepid defense heavy performance that ended up in a lackluster defeat. Dricus Du Plessis dominated Strickland the majority of the bout with Strickalnd offering up a few successful jabs leaving Dricus Du Plesis winded but mostly intact post-match. Strickland addressed his performance during in Instagram video:
“I’ll be quick, I get so many messages from fans, friends, family, like, ‘Hold your head up, it’s OK.’ I’m good. Losing sucks, but we all lose in life, and I talk to so many people whether they lose their job, their girlfriend breaks up with them, and they just find themselves in this hole, but me, I love the misery. I love the suffering, because when you’re miserable, when you’re in pain, when you’re suffering, the moment that’s gone—and it will end, it will be a new day, a better day—life’s good,” he said. “So, I’m grateful and being grateful kind of keeps my head up. For you guys going through it, look at me, I just broke my nose in front of millions of people. It f*cking sucks, I lost a fight, and I’ve still got to wake up tomorrow and hold my head up and be, like, ‘Hey man, it’s a new day. Got to sack up and be a man. So, for you guys going through it, look at me, and I hope that, f*cking, your day gets better.”
Du Plessis when asked about his match with Strickland defended him, “everyone criticizing Sean Strickland hasn’t had to stand in front of me,” he said. “So, when you’re in there with me it’s a completely different story. When your nose broke the way his nose broke, you’re in a situation where if you’re just going forward and fighting, it’s not very easy.”
“And unless you’ve been in that situation, you can’t really criticize Sean Strickland at all,” Du Plessis continued. “He’s a tough man, and I don’t think people should be surprised at this stage because when Sean gets his way and his momentum, he fights a certain way and when you take that momentum away, he fights a different way.”
Dricus Du Plessis remains the middleweight champion and is expected to take on Khamzat Chimaev in a title bout later this year.
