The eyes of the mixed martial arts (MMA) world will be on Australia on February 9 as the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney hosts UFC 312.
The full card has now been revealed is headlined by two co-main events where titles in the men’s and women’s ranks will be on the line.
Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis faces Sean Strickland in a rematch of their thrilling battle at UFC 297 in Canada in January 2024.
Du Plessis claimed the title via a close split decision on that occasion and Strickland will be gunning for revenge in their second meeting.
Fans inclined towards wagering on the UFC can click here to find the latest odds, which rank Du Plessis as the favourite to record another victory.
He successfully defended the title by claiming a submission victory over Israel Adesanya in Perth last August and he will be eager to produce another strong performance.
Strickland has had plenty to say in the run-up to fight including wild claims that he was robbed of the verdict in the first meeting. Du Plessis has dismissed his comments.
“I chatted to him afterwards, but then I saw him calling for a rematch in the sense that you get the public behind,” Du Plessis said.
“Saying, ‘oh, you know you didn’t win that fight.’ He came to me in the cage, I think this is the first time publicly I’ll say this, he came to me in the cage right before they announced me as the new champion.
“I went to him and I shook his hand, and I said, ‘you’re a warrior, well done, was a great fight,’ and he said, ‘no, you definitely beat me.’ He said to me, ‘you deserve it, you won that fight, you beat me.’ I said, ‘I also think so. I have to agree with you on that.’”
“After I won the fight, you could see in his face, he knew. When the ref held our hands, he knew he wasn’t winning that fight. Then, of course, he talks about the headbutt, which is not true. I remember the exact punch I caught him with that caused the bleeding.”
UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili returns to action when she defends her title against Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event.
Suarez boasts an unblemished record in MMA, but injuries have prevented her from fulfilling her undoubted potential in the sport.
She has not fought since defeating Jessica Andrade by submission in August 2023 and it will be intriguing to see if she is rusty after he lengthy lay-off.
The bookmakers rate Zhang as the overwhelming favourite to win her fifth fight in a row, although she would be well advised not to underestimate Suarez.
Zhang lost back-to-back contests against Rose Namajunas in 2021, but has subsequently established herself as the queen of the strawweight division.
The rest of the main card features several local fighters including Justin Tafa, Jimmy Crute and Jake Matthews, and they will be eager to put on a show.
UFC 312 Card
Main Card
- Dricus Du Plessis (C) vs Sean Strickland (middleweight championship)
- Zhang Weili (C) vs Tatiana Suarez (strawweight championship)
- Justin Tafa vs Tallison Teixeira (heavyweight)
- Jimmy Crute vs Rodolfo Bellato (light heavyweight)
- Jake Matthews vs Francisco Prado (welterweight)
Preliminary Card
- Jack Jenkins vs Gabriel Santos (featherweight)
- Cody Haddon vs Aleksandre Topuria (bantamweight)
- Tom Nolan vs Viacheslav Borshchev (lightweight)
- HyunSung Park vs Nyamjargal Tumendemberel (flyweight)
Early Preliminary Card
- Quillan Salkilld vs Anshul Jubli (lightweight)
- Kevin Jousset vs Jonathan Micallef (welterweight)
- Wang Cong vs Bruna Brasil (flyweight)
- Rongzhu vs Kody Steele (lightweight)
