The UFC takes center stage in Australia on Saturday, Feb. 8 with UFC 312 taking place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, Australia with the Prelims kicking off the action before Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2.
The fight card is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. Fans looking to watch can do so through FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but does have other promotional offers available.
Fans interested in even more UFC content can find everything they want on ESPN+. In addition to having exclusive access to UFC pay-per-view events, it also offers on-demand replays of previous UFC events and original programing.
Main Event: Dricus Du Plessis (c) vs. Sean Strickland – Middleweight Title Bout
Notable Undercard Fights: Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos – Featherweight; Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev – Lightweight; Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil – Women’s Flyweight; Colby Thicknesse vs/ Aleksandre Topuria – Bantamweight
When: Saturday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. EST
Where: Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Stream: FuboTV (free trial); DirecTV Stream (free trial); Sling; ESPN+
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
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What is DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.
What is SlingTV?
SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.
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ESPN+ is a one-stop shop for content from almost every single sport. In addition to on-demand replays of games across all sports shown on the ESPN and Disney family of networks, there is also exclusive access to select college football games, NHL games, soccer matches, UFC programs and the entire 30 for 30 catalogue. Additionally, there is ESPN+ exclusive original programing like NFL Primetime, Dana White’s Contender Series and The Breakdown with Peyton and Belichick.
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Du Plessis puts middleweight title on the line in rematch with Strickland in UFC 312
By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer
Dricus Du Plessis disagrees that his previous fight with Sean Strickland should have been a split decision, but acknowledged he had to earn the victory that night just more than a year ago for the middleweight belt.
Now they meet again in UFC 312 on Sunday in Sydney, and Du Plessis doesn’t want to leave the outcome in the judges’ hands, comparing a split decision to a coin flip that could easily go the other way.
“We got lucky with the split decision,” the champion said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here now. I am very happy that they made this fight. I was asking for this fight.”
In the co-main event, China’s Zhang Weili (25-3) will defend her strawweight championship against top-ranked challenger Tatiana Suarez (11-0) of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Zhang has won her past three title defenses, two by unanimous decision and the other by second-round submission.
This is the second title defense for the 31-year-old Du Plessis (22-2), a -210 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook. He defeated Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.
Strickland (29-6) gets his shot not only at revenge, but at getting back his belt. However, in a wide-ranging news conference that covered little about the fight, Strickland, the top-ranked challenger, didn’t endear himself Down Under by questioning Australia’s laws and hurling other insults.
“I would like to consider Australians as English white trash and even some Irish,” Strickland said. “As an American white trash, I feel like I have a lot in common with you (expletive).”
The Daily Telegraph put a large photo of Strickland on its back page Thursday with the headline begging someone to “knock this guy out.”
Du Plessis will give it his best against Strickland, who turns 34 on Feb. 27. But if the first meeting was any indication, an early submission is unlikely. That’s the only time since joining the UFC in 2020 that Du Plessis has gone into the fifth round.
“Getting to that fifth round in a war like that proved to myself that I can do it,” Du Plessis said. “It’s easy to say. It’s easy to do it in the fight camp, in the training, but doing it in the octagon is a bit different against a world-class fighter.”
He said to not expect a replay of that fight, that both sides will make adjustments.
The lead-up to the first meeting was much more tense and personal, and both fighters even lobbed punches at each other at another UFC event a month earlier.
Du Plessis was much more complimentary of his opponent this week, and Strickland said nothing especially disparaging of his competitor.
“I think Strickland is the best middleweight in the world right now behind me, and he deserves to be here,” Du Plessis said. “I know he’s an incredible, incredible fighter. He’s so good defensively. He’s tough. He’s hard to hit, and when you hit him, it doesn’t have that effect as on a normal guy. This man is an apex predator, so this is the toughest fight of my life coming up, and I’m ready for that because I’m an apex predator and he’s in my area right now.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
