UFC 312 Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 PPV Pay Per View 2/8/25

The next pay-per-view fight card on the 2025 UFC schedule takes place on Saturday, February 8. That event, UFC 312, features a middleweight title fight rematch in the main event spot. That contest pits current champ Dricus du Plessis against the man he took the title from in January 2024, Sean Strickland. In the evening’s co-main event, UFC women’s strawweight titleholder Zhang Weili faces Tatiana Suarez. Below, we look at the betting odds for the Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 fight and offer our preview, picks, and predictions for the title fight.

Dricus du Plessis (22-2) joined the UFC in October 2020 as a 26-year-old with a 14-2 record. Before he joined the UFC, Du Plessis had won titles with KSW and EFC. He made his debut against Markus Perez on the main card of a UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi. Du Plessis knocked out Perez in the first round. He followed that win with a July 2021 “Performance of the Night” KO win of Trevin Giles. Those two wins earned him a shot against the ranked veteran Brad Tavares. Du Plessis won that scrap via decision. The victory put him in the top 15 of the division. A December 2022 submission win over Darren Till moved Du Plessis to No. 10 in the division. A TKO win over the No. 5 ranked Derek Brunson followed. Du Plessis, who was working his way up the rankings, faced a tough test in his next outing when he met the No. 2 ranked Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Du Plessis continued his rise, knocking out the former UFC champion in the UFC middleweight title eliminator and earning another “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Du Plessis lands 6.18 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy of 49 percent. His striking defense is 54 percent, and he absorbs an average of 4.85 strikes per minute. Du Plessis averages 3.04 takedowns per 15 minutes with an accuracy of 50 percent. His takedown defense is 50 percent. Strickland averages 6.01 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 42 percent. His striking defense is 61 percent, and he gets hit, on average, 4.48 times per minute. Strickland, not known for his wrestling, averages 0.78 takedowns per minute with a takedown rate of 64 percent. His takedown defense is 77 percent. UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker when it comes to this fight. There’s nothing that Strickland can show us that he didn’t reveal in the first meeting between these two. With that, the betting pick is for Dricus du Plessis to beat Sean Strickland by decision. Reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (22-2) and former titleholder Sean Strickland (29-6) will collide once again in a rematch of their razor-close UFC 297 bout. Du Plessis narrowly claimed the belt via split decision in January 2024, but Strickland aims to reclaim his throne in a fight that promises fireworks.