UFC 312 FAQ: How does Alex Pereira factor into Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2?
February began with Israel Adesanya setting knocked out, and now two of his former opponents are set to headline UFC 312 with middleweight gold on the line.
The UFC’s February slate got off to a wild start this past weekend with Nassourdine Imavov picking up the biggest win of his career in Saudi Arabia with a stunning knockout of Israel Adesanya.
The result shook up the middleweight division, which remains front and centre all month — and this week in particular with two of Adesanya’s former opponents headlining Saturday’s UFC 312 in a title rematch.
Middleweight gold won’t be the only title on the line at UFC 312 as the co-main event also features a championship matchup.
With that in mind, here are some key questions and everything else you need to know this week ahead of the UFC’s second numbered event of the year.
Where and when does it take place?
UFC 312: Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 goes down on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
It is the fourth numbered UFC event hosted in Australia in the past two years. UFC 305 took place in Perth less than six months ago, while UFC 284 and UFC 293 both took place in 2023.
Fans can watch preliminary coverage of UFC 312 on Sportsnet+ and Sportsnet 360 beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Saturday and can order the pay-per-view main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Sportsnet+.
What’s the main event?
UFC 312 is headlined by a rematch between defending middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and one-time titleholder Sean Strickland, each of whom is 1-0 in title fights that take place in Australia.
The pair went 25 minutes in their first meeting one year ago at UFC 297 in Toronto with Du Plessis getting his hand raised after a split decision. Strickland was attempting to defend the title after winning the belt from Adesanya in Sydney four months earlier.
Strickland, 33 years old from California, has remained the No. 1 contender in the division since losing the title 12 months ago, rebounding with a five-round win over Paulo Costa in June.
South Africa’s Du Plessis, 30, cemented his status as champion with a submission win over Adesanya in Perth in August.
How and why is Alex Pereira involved?
The reigning light-heavyweight champion and one-time middleweight champ is accompanying Strickland and his team to Australia and will serve as one of his cornermen during the fight.
Pereira fought and defeated Strickland in 2022 back when he used to compete at 185 pounds before moving up to the 205-pound division. Since that UFC 276 encounter, the two have since become friendly and occasionally train together.
Strickland spent time in Utah helping Pereira prepare for his October UFC 307 title defence against Khalil Rountree, and Strickland’s coach, Eric Nicksick, revealed last week that Pereira would be helping corner Strickland at UFC 312.
Pereira never crossed paths with Du Plessis while at middleweight but the pair of champions have alluded to a future superfight since winning their current belts.
Minutes after Du Plessis defended his against Adesanya, Pereira took to social media with a photo showing him watching Du Plessis get his hand raised accompanied by the caption: “Coming back down to 185 one more time.”
Du Plessis and his coaches have stated multiple times they’d be willing to fight Pereira in either weight class if the UFC ever considers putting together that matchup of champions.
Pereira and Du Plessis share two common opponents: Strickland and Adesanya, with whom Pereira also shares a longtime two-sport rivalry dating back to their kickboxing days.
What do the odds say?
According to BetMGM, Du Plessis (-208) is roughly a two-to-one favourite to retain his title in the rematch while Strickland enters a +170 underdog.
The opening odds were much closer with Du Plessis roughly a -130 favourite but they have since swung more favourably in the champion’s direction since the matchup was first announced.
Odds for the first fight at UFC 297 closed with Strickland as the slight favourite.
Who else is on the card?
The co-main event is also a world-class championship clash as strawweight queen Weili Zhang aims to make the fourth defence of her 115-pound title when she faces unbeaten Tatiana Suarez.
Zhang, 35 years old and fighting out of Beijing, has won four in a row since her two losses to Rose Namajunas in 2021 and is coming off a unanimous decision over Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 last April.
Suarez is 10-0 as a pro with seven of those wins under the UFC banner. She also went 2-0 as an amateur and 3-0 in exhibition bouts during her time on a 2016 season of The Ultimate Fighter, a tournament she ended up winning. The 34-year-old from California is only 2-0 since returning from a 3.5-year layoff due to a back injury and hasn’t fought since her submission win over Jéssica Andrade in August of 2023.
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The undercard will feature many of the top fighters from Australia and the surrounding area, including the likes of Jake Matthews, Jimmy Crute, Jack Jenkins and Tom Nolan who should all get a big pop from the home crowd.
On the preliminary card, former world champion kickboxer Wang Cong will look to bounce back from her first loss in MMA when she faces Bruna Brasil.
Aleksandre Topuria, the older brother of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, is set to make his UFC debut on the televised prelims. The 29-year-old is 5-1 as a pro and has never gone the distance. He was originally slated to face Cody Haddon but a foot injury forced Haddon off the card and he was replaced by 7-0 Colby Thicknesse of New South Wales.
Also on the prelims, touted 2024 Contender Series graduates Kody Steele and Quillan Salkilld are also set to make their official UFC debuts against Rong Zhu and Anshul Jubli, respectively.
The projected bout order for UFC 312 currently looks like…
MAIN CARD
— Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland
— Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez
— Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira
— Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato
— Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos
— Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
— Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil
— Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria
— Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset
— Rong Zhu vs. Kody Steele
— Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli
— Park Hyun-sung vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
What else is happening fight week?
Since the event is taking place in Australia, the standard fight week activities are catered to the local audience in terms of timing.
Open workouts: Fans in Sydney on Wednesday can attend at the Sydney Town Hall beginning at 6 p.m. local time to watch Du Plessis, Strickland, Zhang, Suarez, Tafa and Crute go through a workout and then answer questions.
Press conference: The four fighters competing for a championship will answer questions from gathered media beginning around 6 p.m. local time, which is 2 a.m. ET Thursday / 11 p.m. PT Wednesday.
Official weigh-in: Athletes will begin stepping on the scale Friday at 3 p.m. local time, which is 11 p.m. ET Thursday / 8 p.m. PT Thursday. Fighters must hit their contracted weights or else face a potential fine or risk having the bout cancelled.
Ceremonial weigh-ins: After all official weights have been recorded and the athletes have started rehydrating, all fighters will face off one final time on the eve of the event beginning Friday at 3:30 a.m. ET/12:30 a.m. PT (7:30 p.m. local).
Former featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski will participate in a fan Q&A just before the start of ceremonial weigh-ins.
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