The rematch between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland has been confirmed as the main event for UFC 312. The contest headlines the pay-per-view card live from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on February 8 (ET).
The pair first met in Ontario, Canada in January. Du Plessis (22-2) walked away with the win by split decision and claimed the middleweight title from Strickland (29-6).
In his next fight in August, 30-year-old South African champion Dricus Du Plessis defeated Israel Adesanya by submission in the fourth round, making the first successful defense of his belt. The 33-year-old former champion from Anaheim, California, Sean Strickland, got back in the win column in June when he took a split decision against Paulo Costa.
The promotion made the Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 official as the UFC 312 main event, during the UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura broadcast on Saturday. Also confirmed for the upcoming card in Sydney, Australia is a co-main event bout pitting Weili Zhang against Tatiana Suarez.
Two-time strawweight champion Weili Zhang (25-3) makes the third defense of the title in her second reign. China’s 34-year-old is coming off a win by unanimous decision against Yan Xiaonan in April.
Tatiana Suarez (10-0) makes her first Octagon appearance in one and a half years. In her previous outing in August 2023, the 33-year-old native of Covina, California submitted Jessica Andrade in the second round. Suarez was expected to face Virna Jandiroba at UFC 310, but the fight fell through.
In addition to the previously confirmed trio of matchups, the current UFC 312 lineup is as follows:
- Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland – du Plessis’ UFC middleweight title
- Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez – Zhang’s UFC strawweight title
- Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli
- Rei Tsuruya vs. Stewart Nicoll
- Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
The local date for UFC 312 in Australia is February 9.