Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) after a dominant 25-minute bout in the main event of UFC 312 in Sydney on Sunday.
The fight was never competitive as Strickland (29-7 MMA) stayed on his back foot for nearly the entire duration.
Unlike their first encounter 13 months ago, both men were less keen on aggressiveness and more on technicality. A punch from du Plessis (23-2 MMA) in the fourth round opened a gruesome cut on the bridge of Strickland's nose, the likely climax of the fight.
Du Plessis was gracious in victory, apologizing to the fans for not securing a predicted knockout finish from Thursday's press conference.
"Sean (Strickland) is an absolute animal and is deserving of all heart (showed)," du Plessis said following the win.
Meanwhile, Strickland was blunt.
"He kicked my (expletive) fair and square," Strickland said. "Props to him."
The co-main event saw Weili Zhang successfully defend her strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez by unanimous decision – 49-46, 49-46, 49-45 – with relative ease.
After a slow opening round, Zhang prevented Suarez from using her potent wrestling attack to secure several submission attempts, but to no avail.
Zhang thanked the Australian audience, giving Suarez credit for a tough fight. Ultimately, though, Zhang was pleased with her performance.
"Do your best – I don't care about oddsmakers," Zhang said. "I just focused on myself."
Nevertheless, it marks another chapter in the career of Zhang (26-3 MMA) that hasn't seen her taste defeat since November 2021. Suarez (11-1 MMA) goes back to the drawing board, suffering her first loss.
Heavyweight Tallison Teixeira kicked his UFC career off in style with a first-round TKO against Justin Tafa, needing only 35 seconds to finish off the Australian.
Tafa (7-5 MMA) fell under .500 in the UFC, while Teixeira (8-0 MMA) has won seven of eight fights by KO/TKO.
The second fight saw Jimmy Crute fight Rodolfo Bellato at welterweight. While the fight was extremely competitive, with both looking for the finish in the first two rounds, the fight was ruled a draw, with one judge, Mark Collett, scoring the fight for Crute (12-4-2 MMA) by giving him the first two rounds – 28-28, 29-27, 28-28. The fight marked Crute's second draw in his last three fights, while Bellato (12-2-1 MMA) is still undefeated in the promotion.
UFC 312's main card opened with Jake Matthews earning a unanimous decision against Francisco Prado in a welterweight bout 30-27, 30-27, 30-27. Matthews (21-7 MMA) has won his last two fights, while Prado (12-3 MMA) fell to 1-3 in the promotion.
