3 biggest storylines ahead of UFC 312
UFC 312 is upon us.
In Saturday's main event, Dricus Du Plessis will defend the middleweight title in a rematch with former champion Sean Strickland. And in the co-headliner, strawweight queen Zhang Weili puts her belt on the line in a long-awaited matchup against Tatiana Suarez.
Here are three key storylines ahead of the UFC's return to Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Du Plessis, Strickland bring out the best in each other
Du Plessis' biggest test in eight UFC fights was against Strickland at UFC 297 in January 2024. Similarly, Strickland's most difficult fight in his last six - or last 14 if you remove his knockout loss to Alex Pereira from the equation - was against Du Plessis. The point is that these guys challenge each other in ways others cannot.
Du Plessis beat Strickland by split decision to capture the title in their first fight, but it easily could've gone the other way. Strickland was sure he deserved the judges' nod, while 13 media members scored the fight for Du Plessis and 10 had it for Strickland on MMADecisions.com. Pretty nip and tuck.
Du Plessis-Strickland 1 provided a fairly high level of entertainment. It was grueling at times, but the back-and-forth nature made for edge-of-your-seat stuff. Here's what Du Plessis looked like after the fight, and he won:
It's on Strickland to come in with a game plan that'll change the outcome this time. And Du Plessis knows he'll have to be on his A-game.
"(Strickland) is gonna make adjustments to be better," Du Plessis said Tuesday at UFC 312 media day. "And I have to do the same thing. It's not that I have to do anything different; it's just that I have to do whatever I have been doing - better."
No matter which way the rematch goes, it seems likely we're in for another nail-biter.
Now or never for Suarez
Suarez has been heralded as a future champion ever since she won "The Ultimate Fighter 23" in 2016. An accomplished, world championship-caliber wrestler, Suarez crossed over to MMA in 2014 and has yet to lose a fight. She will finally get a chance to win UFC gold this weekend when she faces Zhang.
Why did it take this long? Suarez is 7-0 in the UFC and 10-0 as a pro, but a bevy of injuries and health issues have kept her sidelined for long stretches of her Octagon career. Any kind of momentum she's had in the cage has always been halted by misfortune outside of it. In fact, Suarez will be coming off an 18-month layoff when she co-headlines UFC 312, with two canceled fights separating a win over former champ Jessica Andrade in August 2023 and her title fight with Zhang. Both cancellations were due to Suarez getting hurt.
This is why it's so important that Suarez seizes the moment. She may never get another title fight if she comes up short. Suarez is already injury prone and could be nearing the end of her prime at 34 years old. This one fight could truly be the make-or-break moment of her MMA career.
Australia deserves better
The 13-fight slate for UFC 312 is pretty rough. It's basically a Fight Night card with two title bouts that stick out like a sore thumb at the top of the bill.
Apparently, that's all the UFC needs to draw in a bunch of rowdy Aussie fans to watch some face punching on a Sunday morning. But really, that fan base deserves better. Where's Alexander Volkanovski? Where's Tai Tuivasa? How about Dan Hooker of nearby New Zealand? At least include a few big names even if they aren't from the region.
There are a total of four ranked fighters scheduled to compete at UFC 312. That just doesn't cut it for a pay-per-view that's setting fans back $70 to watch at home or upward of $600 to attend the event.