GDT: UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2

[MMC]

Date: February 9, 2025
Venue: Qudos Bank Arena
City: Sydney, Australia
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT (2/8)
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Middleweight Championship bout: Dricus du Plessis (c) vs. Sean Strickland
Women's Strawweight Championship bout: Zhang Weili (c) vs. Tatiana Suarez
Heavyweight bout: Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira
Light Heavyweight bout: Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato
Welterweight bout: Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, Sportsnet)

Featherweight bout: Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos
Lightweight bout: Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
Women's Flyweight bout: Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil
Bantamweight bout: Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass)

Lightweight bout: Rong Zhu vs. Kody Steele
Welterweight bout: Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset
Lightweight bout: Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli
Flyweight bout: Hyun-sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel​

Click to read more...

 

[MMC]

This shit is ass

 

[bov]

Bad card but the main and co-main are a great 1-2 punch. I could see DDP knocking out, maybe choking out Strickland. I guess I'm kind of hoping for Weili but that one is a toss up, could go either way.

 

[I am not exposed]

Yeah this doesn't scream PPV to me.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Take away the title fight and this is a bad fight night card. Yuck.

 

[I am not exposed]

Take away the title fight and this is a bad fight night card. Yuck.

And Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland is hardly the most intriguing title fight. Would have been better with du Plessis vs. Chimaev as the title fight.

 

[Taytro]

Unranked Justin Tafa is 3rd from the top? Maybe a little too much pandering to the location on this one. 4 ranked fighters on the main card is absolutely brutal.

 

[MMC]

Unranked Justin Tafa is 3rd from the top? Maybe a little too much pandering to the location on this one. 4 ranked fighters on the main card is absolutely brutal.

They can't get anyone to agree to fight in Australia besides local guys (and even then, not the cream of the crop) because Australia taxes everyone to shit

 

[CDJ]

I like Suarez in this one

 

[MMC]

I like Suarez in this one

She still has 4 days to pull out

 

[pistolpete11]

Alright, Tati. I picked you to be champ by the end of the year for what feels like a decade. Now's your time.

As far as the fight goes, I really don't know. Weili is obviously the better striker, but she has a TDD of 50% and hasn't fought a wrestler of Suarez's caliber. She can handle herself on the ground, too, so it's not like she has to avoid it at all costs, but obviously would prefer to keep it standing, I imagine. It's a great matchup. I'm gonna go Suarez by sub, mainly because I can't abandon her now. I'm still a Weili fan, though, so won't be upset either way. Just hope for a good, clean, no controversy fight.

Judging by their previously fight, DDP-Strickland are obviously evenly matched, but, at the risk of underestimating Strickland yet again, I'm taking DDP. Just more ways to win. I think finishing Izzy will be a huge confidence boost for him.

The rest of this card is doodoo.

 

[Taytro]

Alright, Tati. I picked you to be champ by the end of the year for what feels like a decade. Now's your time.

As far as the fight goes, I really don't know. Weili is obviously the better striker, but she has a TDD of 50% and hasn't fought a wrestler of Suarez's caliber. She can handle herself on the ground, too, so it's not like she has to avoid it at all costs, but obviously would prefer to keep it standing, I imagine. It's a great matchup. I'm gonna go Suarez by sub, mainly because I can't abandon her now. I'm still a Weili fan, though, so won't be upset either way. Just hope for a good, clean, no controversy fight.

Judging by their previously fight, DDP-Strickland are obviously evenly matched, but, at the risk of underestimating Strickland yet again, I'm taking DDP. Just more ways to win. I think finishing Izzy will be a huge confidence boost for him.

The rest of this card is doodoo.

Weili has been inviting the ground game lately, 13 minutes of control time vs Xionan and 16 minutes vs Lemos. I definitely see this fight going to the ground at some point. I'd be happy to see either win though if I'm being honest.

UFC gods: it's a draw.

 

[pistolpete11]

Weili has been inviting the ground game lately, 13 minutes of control time vs Xionan and 16 minutes vs Lemos. I definitely see this fight going to the ground at some point. I'd be happy to see either win though if I'm being honest.

UFC gods: it's a draw.

For sure. She's well rounded, but Suarez ain't Xionan or Lemos. I think the more it stays standing the better her odds.

 

[MMC]

How the f*** is Teixeira the favorite over Tafa?

 

[bov]

How the f*** is Teixeira the favorite over Tafa?

Tafa is 7-4 , his UFC wins AND losses are against guys who are all basically terrible. Maybe the worst quality of competition you'll find for someone with 9 fights in the promotion.

I don't know if Teixeira is the real deal, but he's a giant undefeated prospect with some hype and 100% finish rate. I get the betting line.

 

[MMC]

Tafa is 7-4 , his UFC wins AND losses are against guys who are all basically terrible. Maybe the worst quality of competition you'll find for someone with 9 fights in the promotion.

I don't know if Teixeira is the real deal, but he's a giant undefeated prospect with some hype and 100% finish rate. I get the betting line.

Tafa being Teixeira’s opponent barely matters to me, I’d fade Teixeira against pretty much anyone in the UFC, he’s a total can crusher that has beat 2 fighters who currently have a positive W/L record, the guy he fought in his debut and the guy he fought on the contender series. And on the CS he fought a guy who was someone who fought at welterweight until 2018 and then went on to not fight for 6 years until one 20 second fight at HW before getting the CS call… and Tallison was still getting touched up by him until the KO. I wouldn’t put my money anywhere near him

 

[bov]

Tafa being Teixeira’s opponent barely matters to me, I’d fade Teixeira against pretty much anyone in the UFC, he’s a total can crusher that has beat 2 fighters who currently have a positive W/L record, the guy he fought in his debut and the guy he fought on the contender series. And on the CS he fought a guy who was someone who fought at welterweight until 2018 and then went on to not fight for 6 years until one 20 second fight at HW before getting the CS call… and Tallison was still getting touched up by him until the KO. I wouldn’t put my money anywhere near him

Same, but usually the odds favor the prospect in these scenarios. Tafa himself is not only a can crusher but he loses to them too. I could see him getting a KO win, either way someone is going down hard.