Du Plessis vs Strickland Prediction

🔊The main event of the upcoming UFC 312 tournament, which will take place on February 9 in Sydney, has been announced as a match between South African Dricus Du Plessis and American Sean Strickland. The fight is a title bout and will be held in the middleweight category. The first fight between these athletes, which took place over a year ago, was won by Dricus. Will there be a new champion in the middleweight division? Let's find out.

◼ Dricus Du Plessis

The South African athlete is a versatile fighter with a background in kickboxing and judo. Dricus made his professional debut in 2013. In the first few years of his career, Du Plessis competed in the local organization EFC Africa, where he won the championship title in both the welterweight and middleweight categories. Then "Stillknocks" moved to Polish KSW, where he also became a champion, but later lost that title. With a record of 14-2, Du Plessis was signed to Dana White's organization, where he remains undefeated to this day. In January of last year, Dricus defeated Sean Strickland by split decision, becoming the UFC middleweight champion. And in the summer of last year, the South African made his first successful title defense by defeating Israel Adesanya via submission. "Stillknocks" has a total of 22 wins and 2 losses.

◼ Sean Strickland

The fighter from the USA is a boxer by base but holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Strickland made his debut in mixed martial arts in 2008 in the KOTC organization. He spent 6 years of his career there, won the championship title, and had five successful defenses. With a record of 13-0, Sean was signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. There, the American continued to win, only occasionally losing to top-level fighters. In September 2023, unexpectedly for everyone, Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya, becoming the middleweight champion. But he lost his first title defense to Dricus Du Plessis. After that fight, "Tarzan" redeemed himself by defeating Paulo Costa. Strickland currently has 29 wins and 6 losses.

📝 Editorial Prediction

The previous meeting between Du Plessis and Strickland went the full distance. Considering the styles of these fighters, we anticipate that the upcoming bout will also be quite lengthy. The athletes will try to outstrike each other on their feet, and the champion will certainly attempt to incorporate ground transitions. However, the probability of a finish is low, so we recommend looking at a bet on a full fight here.