There will be no cries about robberies after UFC 312. Dricus du Plessis left no doubt who the better man was as he beat Sean Strickland more decisively than he did at UFC 297.
Last year, Strickland and his fans bemoaned that Du Plessis won an undeserved split decision to claim the UFC middleweight title. Du Plessis and Strickland fought to a second decision on Saturday, albeit with a far more decisive outcome. Du Plessis nearly swept Strickland on the scorecards (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to improve 2-0 in their series.
Du Plessis predicted a knockout, submission or dominant decision when speaking to CBS Sports before the fight. He accomplished the latter with a constant onslaught of offense. The defending champion was relentless in his approach. Du Plessis walked down Strickland, threw all manner of attacks and outstruck him in four of five rounds.
Du Plessis’ biggest moment came in Round 4 when he shattered Strickland’s nose with a long-range right hand. “DDP” aggressively pursued a finish, but a panicked Strickland was able to avoid disaster and settle back into the fight. Strickland’s nose gushed with blood, but he told his corner in between rounds that he managed to reset it by himself.
Du Plessis can look forward to a high-profile title defense after beating former champions Israel Adesanya and Strickland. UFC CEO Dana White previously anointed Khamzat Chimaev as the next title challenger. Nassourdine Imavov is also a viable challenger after KOing Adesanya last week. But it seems du Plessis has sights set on bigger obstacles.
“Is there no one else? Is there no one else?” Du Plessis shouted into the microphone post-fight while staring down UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Periera, who cornered Strickland for their fight in Sydney, Australia.
“I am a top three pound-for-pound fighter as of tonight, and I’m going for that number one spot.”
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 312 below.
UFC 312 card, results
- Dricus du Plessis (c) def Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Zhang Weili (c) def. Tatiana Suarez via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
- Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa via first-round knockout (elbow, punches)
- Rodolfo Bellato vs. Jimmy Crute ends in majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-27)
- Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins via third-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Tom Nolan def. Viacheslav Borshchev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Wang Cong def. Bruna Brasil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aleksandre Topuria def. Colby Thicknesse via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rongzhu def. Kody Steele via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jonathan Micallef def. Kevin Jousset via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli via first-round knockout (punch)
Read the full article here
