The UFC Middleweight Championship will be on the line when defending champion Dricus du Plessis battles former champion Sean Strickland to highlight the main card at Saturday’s UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The early preliminary card is expected to get underway around 6 p.m. ET, with the main UFC 312 fight card starting around 10 p.m. ET. Du Plessis is coming off a successful title defense at UFC 305 this past August when he won by submission at 3:38 of the fourth round over Israel Adesanya. Strickland had defeated Adesanya by unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September 2023 to earn the middleweight championship, but lost it to du Plessis at UFC 297 in January 2024 by split decision in the Fight of the Night.
Du Plessis is a -210 favorite (risk $210 to win $100), while Strickland is priced at +175 (risk $100 to win $175) in the latest UFC 312 odds, with that fight listed at -170 to go the distance. Also on the main card, women’s strawweight fighters take the spotlight as Zhang Weili (+105) takes on Tatiana Suarez (-125) in a title bout. Before making any UFC 312 picks, be sure to see the UFC 312 predictions and best bets from SportsLine’s Daniel Vithlani.
Vithlani is a highly-analytical UFC bettor who has been a consistent winner for SportsLine members since making his debut in January 2023 with a 5-0 record for UFC 283. In fact, he’s up over $1,500 on his UFC main-card sports betting picks.
His other highlights include calling an upset for Sean O’Malley (+210) against Aljamain Sterling (-250) at UFC 292 as part of a 4-1 main card and his UFC 299 winners included underdog selections on Dustin Poirier (+190) against Benoit Saint Denis (-230) and Michael Page (+110) against Kevin Holland (-130). Anyone who has followed him at sportsbooks and on betting apps could be way up.
Now, Vithlani has studied Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland from every angle and revealed his top betting picks and best bets. You can only see Vithlani’s UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland picks at SportsLine.
Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 preview
Du Plessis, 31, has been dominant and has not lost since October 2018. He has compiled a 22-2 all-time record, and is on a 10-match winning streak, including eight UFC matches. He has nine wins by knockout, 11 by submission and two by decision. He has won Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night honors twice each.
He is ranked No. 7 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings, and is a former welterweight and middleweight Extreme Fighting Championship champion as well as the former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki welterweight title holder. Du Plessis also has the second-most significant strikes landed-per-minute (6.18) in UFC middleweight division history. He began his professional career in July 2013 and was 14-2 before signing with UFC in 2020. He has yet to lose as a UFC fight.
In the meantime, Strickland, 33, has also been impressive. He is coming off a split decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 this past June. He has won four of his last five fights, with the only loss coming to de Plessis. Besides one Fight of the Night honor, he has also earned Performance of the Night three times.
Since Dec. 16, 2024, he is No. 1 in the UFC middleweight rankings and is 14th in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings. He has compiled a 29-6 record as a professional, including 11 wins by knockout, four by submission and 14 by decision. He has competed professionally since March 2008, winning a welterweight bout by submission at 1:53 of the second round against Tyler Pottett. He joined UFC in May 2014. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top UFC 312 predictions
We’ll reveal one of Vithlani’s UFC 312 predictions here: Viacheslav Borschev (-135) to defeat Tom Nolan (+115) in a lightweight matchup on the preliminary card.
“Borschev gets a favorable matchup against a fellow striker in Nolan, who had a ton of hype behind him coming into the UFC,” Vithlani told SportsLine. “After Nolan was knocked out in his debut, his stock dropped drastically. Nolan has picked up two wins since but defeated fairly weak competition. Borschev is the sharper boxer and the most skilled striker Nolan will have ever faced. Nolan may look to wrestle and expose Borschev’s weakness, but I’m not sure he has the grappling pedigree to do so successfully for three rounds. Borschev will control the dance behind his jab, low kicks and his work to the body.” See more UFC picks at SportsLine.
How to make UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland picks
Vithlani has strong picks for du Plessis vs. Strickland and other bouts on the UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 card. He is also backing a fighter who “can push a torrid pace” to emerge with a huge victory. He’s sharing who it is only at SportsLine.
Who wins UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2, and how exactly does the fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks and analysis from the incomparable expert who is up over $1,500 on his UFC main-card picks, and find out.
UFC 312 main fight card, odds
See full UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 picks, predictions, best bets here.
Dricus du Plessis (-210) vs. Sean Strickland (+175)
Zhang Weili (+105) vs. Tatiana Suarez (-125)
Tallison Teixeira (-150) vs. Justin Tafa (+125)
Jimmy Crute (+135) vs. Rodolfo Bellato (-160)
Jake Matthews (-230) vs. Francisco Prado (+190)
Read the full article here
