This past Saturday in the main event of UFC 312, the middleweight title was on the line in a rematch. Champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2) was looking to defend his title against the man he took the title from in Sean Strickland (29-7).
Sean Strickland wanted DDP to stand with him on Saturday and he wanted the two men to slug things out to determine who was the better man. In the first fight, Strickland largely got the better of the striking but timely takedowns from Du Plessis aided him in winning a close decision to become champion.
On Saturday night, DDP only shot for one takedown which he did land. Outside of that, he did what Strickland wanted. The two men largely had a striking match for five rounds and it was DDP that got the better of things. He smashed the nose of Strickland and just got ahead of the challenger with his volume. At the end of five rounds at UFC 312, there was no doubt of the winner this time around as Dricus Du Plessis retained the middleweight title.
What’s next after UFC 312?
The biggest knock on Sean Strickland is his lack of urgency in some of his fights. While he’s incredibly defensively sound, sometimes he really hinders himself by not pushing on the gas in the way that he should. That lack of urgency led him to a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier in December 2022.
That lack of urgency led to his first loss to DDP and that lack of urgency put him in a deep hole this past Saturday night. If Sean Strickland wants to become UFC champion again, he needs to be more aggressive and let his hands go during fights. He has a lot to prove in his next fight.
So, what should the UFC do with Strickland next? I personally wouldn’t mind seeing the fight between Strickland and Robert Whittaker finally materialize. Whittaker is coming off a loss to Khamzat Chimaev who is next in line for the middleweight title. These two have been circling each other over the past couple of years and I’d love to see this fight finally come together.