UFC Predictions: UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2

The UFC heads to Sydney next weekend for the second pay-per-view event of 2025. This one has two title fights on tap, with the middleweight and strawweight titles being defended.

UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 isn't the deepest card overall, but hopefully, it should deliver some fun fights.

Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2.

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#1. UFC middleweight title: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland

To say that this is a curious choice for a UFC middleweight title fight right now would be an understatement.

Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland first faced off for the title a year ago, with du Plessis edging out a tight decision to claim the title. The fight was hardly a standout one, with the judges basically favoring du Plessis' takedowns and forward motion over Strickland's extra volume.

Since then, du Plessis impressed in a first defense against former titleholder Israel Adesanya, while Strickland flattered to deceive in another dull outing against Paulo Costa.

Meanwhile, of course, we've see Khamzat Chimaev destroy former champ Robert Whittaker in rapid fashion, cementing himself as the fighter that everyone wants to see in a title bout.

So why are we getting this fight rather than du Plessis vs. Chimaev? Timing is probably to blame, as 'Borz' only fought in October, but realistically, the interest isn't massively here for this clash.

Who will win? Based on the first fight, it's likely to be close again. However, one thing may have changed this time, and that's the fact that 'Stillknocks' probably doesn't respect Strickland's power at this stage.

'Tarzan' jabbed the hell out of him early on last time, and while he kept him at bay, the South African was never really hurt. The same thing could be said for Costa, who easily bounced back up from a pair of knockdowns.

If du Plessis can walk through Strickland's offense - without leaving himself too open - he can almost certainly land something to hurt him.

While Strickland's cardio and movement are both good, his defense leaves a lot to be desired, as we saw when he dropped his hands and was knocked out by Alex Pereira.

Will the fight hit the ground? Du Plessis certainly looked to take Strickland down last time and could be the superior grappler, although that's a question mark. He's almost certainly got the better takedowns, however.

Overall, then, we should probably expect a similar fight to last time, with 'Tarzan' trying to out-volume the champ.

However, as long as du Plessis doesn't leave himself wide open, if he puts the pressure on early, he should be able to score enough big moments across this fight to take another decision.

The Pick: Du Plessis via decision

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#2. UFC strawweight title: Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez

It's been a while since we've seen strawweight champ Weili Zhang in action, so this is definitely a welcome appearance from 'Magnum'.

Last time the Chinese star fought, she dispatched top contender Yan Xiaonan in a dominant showing. Overall, Zhang is 25-3, and this is her second reign at the top of the 115 pound division.

She's only ever lost to one opponent in the UFC - Rose Namajunas - and if she wins here, it will mark her third successful title defense.

However, 'Magnum' may well be faced with the toughest test of her entire career in the form of Tatiana Suarez.

Long considered a blue chip prospect, Suarez first came into the spotlight when she won TUF 23 with relative ease back in 2016.

Since then, the standout wrestler has remained unbeaten, and she hasn't been taking out lower-level foes, either. At 10-0, she's beaten the likes of Jessica Andrade, Alexa Grasso, and Carla Esparza, and in fact finished all three of those former titleholders.

The only issue she's had, really, is her health. Major injuries to her neck and to her knees have left her spending long stretches on the shelf. Her last win, in fact, came over Andrade back in August 2023.

At her best, Suarez is an absolute monster of a wrestler. She's taken down every opponent she's ever faced and has a 61 percent success rate, which is higher than Islam Makhachev, for comparison's sake.

Once she gets an opponent down, she's extremely hard to shake off, and tends to beat her foes down or snatch up submissions, particularly using choke variants.

It's admittedly true that Suarez isn't the most natural striker, but like fighters such as Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili, she often doesn't really need to use her stand-up. Realistically, then, the only question mark on her is her health, given she hasn't fought in so long and has been injured.

Zhang is more of a well-rounded fighter. She's also a monster grappler, but her biggest wins have come on the feet. She took out Joanna Jedrzejczyk with a spinning backfist, for instance, and also knocked out Andrade to win the title for the first time back in 2019.

The two big questions here, then, are whether Zhang can stop Suarez's takedown, and if the fight goes deeper, how will Suarez's cardio hold up if she's rusty?

On the first question, it's hard to say. Zhang is a good wrestler, but is nowhere near the level of Suarez. She was also taken down a couple of times by Namajunas in their second fight, and also by Esparza.

Of course, if 'Magnum' can land something nasty on Suarez early on, then those takedowns might become moot. We haven't really seen the challenger's chin tested, and Zhang can crack like few others at 115 pounds.

However, Suarez isn't likely to just launch herself into a wild takedown attempt early. She's never come across like that kind of fighter, instead preferring to set up her takedowns via the clinch and through good inwards movement.

With that considered, then, if she can get the champ down in the first fight, it should bode well for her. Even if she can't put Zhang away, if she can control her, then the psychological advantage should be hers.

Suarez is a consummate finisher, though, and against someone as aggressive on the ground as Zhang, that could play into her hands. If 'Magnum' goes for a submission, she could leave herself open too.

It's hard to pick Suarez based on her layoff. However, she's felt like the uncrowned champion for a long period of time now, and has literally blown most of her foes away with ease. Therefore, it could be time for a new queen at 115 pounds.

The Pick: Suarez via second-round submission

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#3. UFC 312: The Main Card

In a heavyweight bout, Justin Tafa faces Tallison Teixeira. The clear hope for this one is a wild brawl with someone being knocked out, but whether that happens is a bit of a question mark, as Tafa has been in plenty of slopfests over the years too.

We know what Tafa brings, though - heavy hands and little else. He's capable of big knockouts, but he's also been knocked out himself and has struggled with cardio too.

Teixeira garnered some hype coming off Dana White's Contender Series, where he scored a big knockout last year. He's unbeaten at 7-0, and is a huge guy too, standing at 6ft 7in.

Overall, this could honestly go either way, as always with heavyweights. However, purely due to his athletic potential, the pick is Teixeira via knockout.

In a light heavyweight bout, Jimmy Crute takes on Rodolfo Bellato. Quite how this fight is being featured on a pay-per-view is anyone's guess, given Crute hasn't fought since 2023 and hasn't won since 2020, but he is an Aussie favorite.

Bellato, meanwhile, looked good in his octagon debut, although it did take place back in 2023. He's 12-2 overall, with his only two losses coming to the same fighter - Vitor Petrino.

Basically this one comes down to how high Bellato's ceiling is. We know how high Crute's is, and right now, it isn't exactly that high. Based on Crute's poor streak and layoff, then, the pick is Bellato via TKO.

Finally, in a welterweight tilt, Jake Matthews takes on Francisco Prado. Once considered one of the young guns of the division, Matthews has competed only sporadically over the past few years, and due to this, he hasn't really put a consistent run together.

At his best, though, he's got strong boxing, a solid ground game and he's as tough as leather, too. He's also shocked fans by beating favored opponents like Darrius Flowers and Andre Fialho before.

Prado, meanwhile, gained some hype last year thanks to a wild fight with Daniel Zellhuber that saw him edged out on the scorecards. An explosive striker, the Argentine also scored a big knockout of Ottman Azaitar in 2023.

This one is tough to pick as Matthews is so much more proven at this level than Prado, but he's got a lot of miles in his tank, too. Therefore, the pick is Prado via decision.

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#4. UFC 312: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC featherweight bout: Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos

UFC lightweight bout: Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

UFC flyweight bout: Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil

UFC bantamweight bout: Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria

UFC welterweight bout: Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset

UFC lightweight bout: Rong Zhu vs. Kody Steele

UFC lightweight bout: Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli

UFC flyweight bout: Hyun Sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel