UFC 312 predictions: Will Du Plessis make it 2-0 vs. Strickland?

theScore's Nick Baldwin makes his picks for the UFC 312 main-card bouts ahead of Saturday's event in Sydney, Australia.

Middleweight championship

Dricus Du Plessis (22-2)
vs.
Sean Strickland (29-6)

Thirteen months after Du Plessis reached the pinnacle of the sport with a split-decision win over Strickland at UFC 297, the two middleweight rivals are running it back.

Du Plessis is favored to win the rematch, and understandably so. He won the first fight and has a higher chance of making improvements as the younger fighter. But Strickland - no stranger to an upset - shouldn't be counted out.

Their first fight could've gone either way. Du Plessis was confident the judges got it right and Strickland was confident the judges got it wrong. Media members who submitted scorecards to MMADecisions.com were split down the middle. Swap one round on a judge's scorecard and the middleweight division would look a lot different than it does now.

That said, I'm done doubting Du Plessis. I picked Israel Adesanya to beat him last summer, and look at what happened. Du Plessis' fight style isn't always pretty, but it's effective. You don't go 8-0 in the UFC and win a title out of sheer luck.

While I don't think the awkward and unorthodox Du Plessis will have an easy time dealing with Strickland's elite-level boxing, he's done it before and can do it again.

The pick: Du Plessis, unanimous decision

Strawweight championship

Zhang Weili (25-3)
vs.
Tatiana Suarez (10-0)

This is Suarez's moment.

It's not often we see a challenger come into a title fight as the betting favorite, but that's how highly regarded and respected Suarez is within the MMA community.

A former championship-caliber wrestler with many accolades, Suarez has been viewed as a future UFC champion since she won "The Ultimate Fighter 23" in 2016. But a slew of injuries and health issues have halted her rise - until now.

It's important not to look past Zhang, a two-time champ and a pound-for-pound great. This is just the second time she's been the underdog in a UFC fight, and it's a strange sight.

Saturday's co-main event is a fascinating clash of styles. Zhang is a much better striker than Suarez and has a clear path to victory: Keep the fight on the feet. That said, if Suarez takes it to the ground - and I think she will - she'll be able to use her wrestling to outwork Zhang and finally reach the top of the strawweight division.

The pick: Suarez, unanimous decision

Other main-card predictions: Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa by TKO; Jimmy Crute def. Rodolfo Bellato by TKO; Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado by decision