Plessis vs Strickland II

Who won Plessis vs Strickland II?

Dricus Du Plessis beat Sean Strickland by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 312, on Saturday 8th February 2025 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

The scorecards were announced as 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 in favor of the winner Dricus Du Plessis.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

This contest was for the UFC Middleweight championship.

Plessis vs Strickland II stats

Dricus Du Plessis stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 11 by submission.

Sean Strickland made his way to the cage with a record of 29 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Dricus Du Plessis' 9th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2020. Sean Strickland marked his 23rd fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2014.

Dricus Du Plessis' UFC record stood at 9-0-0, while Sean Strickland's came in at 16-7-0.

The stats suggested Plessis had a slight advantage in power over Strickland, with a 41% knock out percentage over Strickland's 38%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Plessis had a massive advantage over Strickland, boasting a 50% submission rate over Strickland's 14%.

Dricus Du Plessis was the younger man by 3 years, at 31 years old.

Plessis was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 11 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2013, 5 years and 4 months later than Strickland, whose first professional fight was in 2008. He had fought 43 less professional rounds, 56 to Strickland's 99.

Plessis vs Strickland II form

Strickland had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Paulo Costa at UFC 302 on 1st June 2024 by split decision in their 5 round contest at Prudential Center, Newark, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 on 20th January 2024 by split decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Canada.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 on 9th September 2023 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia.

Before that, he had defeated Abusupiyan Magomedov at UFC Fight Night – Strickland vs. Magomedov on 1st July 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

He was victorious against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs. Imavov on 14th January 2023 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest.

Activity check

Plessis' last 3 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 5 months and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 24 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 6 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.

Strickland's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 8 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 22 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.4 rounds on average.

What time did Plessis vs Strickland II start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 5:25 AM UTC , which was 12:25 AM EST or 9:25 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 5:25 AM GMT in the UK.

What were the odds on Plessis vs Strickland II?

Dricus Du Plessis was a 9/20 (-220) favourite going into the contest, while Sean Strickland made his way into the ring at 9/5 (+180) with oddsmakers.