At UFC 310 this past Saturday, the promotion controversially announced the UFC 312 main event between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.
Following Dricus Du Plessis’ successful title defense against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August, UFC CEO Dana White indicated that Sean Strickland was likely next in line for a title shot, despite Strickland only having secured one win since his loss to Du Plessis in January.
Plans were briefly interrupted when it was announced that Khamzat Chimaev would face Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of UFC 308. However, after Chimaev dominated Whittaker in the first round, Du Plessis expressed his desire to fight Chimaev instead.
Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev then engaged in a social media back-and-forth, heightening fan anticipation for the potential matchup.
Ultimately, the UFC reverted back to their initial plan, confirming that Du Plessis would headline UFC 312 on February 9 in Sydney, facing Strickland in a rematch.
Du Plessis has since clarified that he was always interested in the Strickland rematch until Chimaev’s performance at UFC 308 changed the dynamics. He explained in an interview that while many fans desired the Chimaev fight, he maintained a strong interest in facing Strickland.
“I think most people wanted to see that Khamzat fight, myself included,” Du Plessis commented. “I was 100% keen on the Strickland rematch the whole time. Everyone now says they wanted the Khamzat fight, but the same fans were the ones that called for the Strickland rematch until Khamzat’s performance against Rob.”
He added, “I honestly felt that the Strickland rematch was warranted, and that’s the fight I wanted after the Khamzat fight. The UFC promised Strickland the fight, and this time they delivered on their promise.”
Despite that, Du Plessis acknowledged that the Chimaev fight was “on the table” and revealed some behind-the-scenes conversations regarding the switch back to Strickland. He clarified that the decision not to proceed with Chimaev was mutual, stemming from issues with the UFC and timing conflicts.
Chimaev has announced he will attend UFC 312 in Sydney, fulfilling existing obligations for fan meet and greets and gym seminars.
In the lead-up to their rematch, Du Plessis made comments regarding Strickland’s fighting style, branding it as “boring.” He noted that in their first fight, despite its closeness, most in the MMA community believed Du Plessis emerged as the victor, a notion Strickland has repeatedly contested, claiming he was ‘robbed.’
Du Plessis stated, “Nothing’s changed; he looked boring like every other fight, walking forward jabbing and teeping. It wasn’t an exciting fight.”
He recalled, “In our fight, I remember there was a stage where I was walking forward, but he just kept moving away. I thought to myself, ‘I’m gonna stand here, maybe he gets the confidence to walk forwards and we can punch it out’.”
He further added, “He has no problem with the crowd booing his fight style; unfortunately, I don’t have that in me.”
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