5 questions that could be answered at UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2

This weekend sees the UFC head Down Under for the second pay-per-view of 2025. This event features two title bouts, but the rest of the card is not all that packed.

UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 is still a highly anticipated event, though, meaning there are plenty of questions going into it.

So whether we get some answers about the title pictures at middleweight and strawweight - or whether the bouts there throw up more questions - remains to be seen.

Here are five questions that could be answered at UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2.

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#5. Can any of the undercard fighters turn themselves into stars?

UFC 312 is absolutely one of the weaker pay-per-view cards in recent memory. While the two title fights at the top of the billing are fantastic bouts, even the other main card clashes are basically closer to Fight Night filler than anything else.

However, eyes will still be on this event due to the headliner between middleweight stars Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland. That means that the other, lesser-known fighters on the undercard have an opportunity to turn themselves into stars.

Can any of them do that? There are definitely a handful of fighters with the potential to do so.

Francisco Prado, for instance, fought in a thriller with Daniel Zellhuber last year. If he can produce the goods against Jake Matthews and win this time around, he's definitely got the potential to become a fan favorite.

Brazil's Rodolfo Bellato, meanwhile, impressed in his octagon debut, and boasts a solid record of 12-2. He could easily make some noise with a win over Jimmy Crute.

On the prelims, the likes of Wang Cong and Tom Nolan have done well previously too, while the fight between Alexander Volkanovski training partner Colby Thicknesse and Aleksandre Topuria - brother of featherweight champ Ilia - could be fascinating.

None of this makes up for the lack of star power at UFC 312 this weekend, but with any hope, at least one or two fighters earn the spotlight.

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#4. Can Tallison Teixeira become the next big thing at heavyweight?

If any of the UFC's weight classes needs a shot of energy right now, it's probably the heavyweight division.

Just 30 fighters altogether populate the division right now, although the promotion has signed a few more who have yet to debut in the octagon.

Essentially, that means that half of the division is ranked in the top fifteen, which, in turn, means ageing fighters like Marcin Tybura and journeymen like Marcos Rogerio de Lima remain in contention.

That's why the bout between Justin Tafa and debutant Tallison Teixeira this weekend is so intriguing.

While he's basically an unknown right now, Teixeira appears to be the kind of fighter who could inject some new energy into the division.

'Xicao' is just 25 years old and is already 7-0. He scored a big win via knockout on Dana White's Contender Series last year, and at 6ft 7in and 258 pounds, he's got the physical and athletic tools to succeed.

Of course, this is heavyweight MMA, and there's an equal chance that Tafa knocks him out and crushes his hype in seconds. However, there's a slight chance that he could make some noise, making his fight well worth watching.

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#3. Will Tatiana Suarez's long layoff have a negative effect on her title chances?

Ever since she won TUF 23 back in 2016, Tatiana Suarez has been tipped for greatness in the UFC.

A former high-level wrestler with incredible submission skills, Suarez has basically lived up to the billing in every possible way thus far.

She's increased her record to 10-0, and holds stoppage victories over three former UFC champions in Alexa Grasso, Carla Esparza and Jessica Andrade. In that sense, her title shot this weekend has been a long time coming.

Unfortunately, Suarez has also suffered from a number of injury setbacks, explaining why it's taken her so long to challenge for gold in the octagon.

One such setback has meant that she hasn't actually fought since beating Andrade back in August 2023.

The big question coming into her clash with strawweight champ Weili Zhang, then, is whether the layoff will affect her. Suarez has come back from lengthy stretches out before and has never shown ring rust, but obviously, Zhang is on an entirely different level to her previous foes.

Essentially, if Suarez is at her best, there's every chance she becomes a champion this weekend. If she isn't, though, it could be a bad night for her.

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#2. Can Sean Strickland justify the UFC's decision to give him a title shot?

While it's true that he only lost his middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 last year by split decision, the decision to give Sean Strickland a second shot at the gold this weekend is slightly controversial.

That's because since losing his title to 'Stillknocks', Strickland has only fought once, winning a tepid decision over Paulo Costa last summer.

Since then, Khamzat Chimaev has basically cemented himself as the division's most dangerous fighter, crushing former champ Robert Whittaker's jaw in October.

It's fair to say that most fans would rather have seen 'Borz' preparing to face du Plessis here instead of 'Tarzan'.

The big question, then, is whether Strickland can prove that he really deserves to be here by putting on an entertaining fight in the headliner.

If 'Tarzan' can create a memorable five round clash, even if he loses, then Dana White's decision to give him this opportunity will be justified.

If he produces another showing like the one he did against Costa, though, it's safe to say that fans across the world will be hugely frustrated that they didn't get to see Chimaev headlining this weekend.

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#1. Will Dricus du Plessis be more confident this time around?

When Dricus du Plessis faced off with Sean Strickland for the middleweight title at UFC 297 last year, the result was a hugely close fight to call.

In the end, 'Stillknocks' edged out a split decision. This was largely due to the fact that while Strickland landed on him with more volume, the fight's bigger moments belonged to the South African.

The big question for du Plessis coming into this weekend's bout, then, is whether he'll come in with some more confidence. After all, 'Stillknocks' should be aware that for five rounds, he took everything Strickland had to throw without many issues.

Since then, too, the South African survived a resurgent Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, managing to become the first man to submit him.

If du Plessis can come in more aggressively, then, and look to hunt Strickland down rather play more of a counter game, then there's every chance that this fight is easier for him.

More than that, of course, he could also become the first man to finish 'Tarzan' since Alex Pereira pulled it off in the summer of 2022.

Quite how 'Stillknocks' will play this one is probably the biggest question that needs answering in Sydney this weekend.