Monster Energy congratulates Dricus Du Plessis on beating Sean Strickland by unanimous decision to defend the UFC's Middleweight Championship title at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.

SYDNEY, Feb. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ --

• Dricus Du Plessis Defeats Sean Strickland by Unanimous Decision to Retain Middleweight Title
• Zhang Weili Beats Tatiana Suarez by Unanimous Decision to Keep Women's Strawweight Title

Still the Champs! Monster Energy congratulates Dricus Du Plessis on beating Sean Strickland by unanimous decision to defend the UFC's Middleweight Championship title at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. In the night's main event fight inside Qudos Bank Arena, the 31-year-old from Welkom, South Africa, went the distance for five rounds to retain the Middleweight championship title.

In the co-main event, 35-year-old Zhang Weili from Handan, China, defended the Women's Strawweight title by beating Tatiana Suarez via Unanimous decision after five rounds.

UFC 312: Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 was contested in front of a live crowd of 18,253 spectators inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. With five fights on the Main Card, the event was broadcast on ESPN pay-per-view and Prelims streamed on the ESPN+ platform.

Monster Energy's Du Plessis (23-2) stepped into the Octagon in Sydney as the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion. The South African fighter originally claimed the title by beating Strickland at UFC 297 in January 2024. This marked his second successful title defense after defeating Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August 2024.

His challenger, Monster Energy's Strickland (29-7), came to Sydney as the former UFC Middleweight Champion looking to reclaim his belt. Strickland won the title from Adesanya at UFC 293 in September 2023 and later lost the title to Du Plessis. With that said, this rematch was heated!

From the opening bell, Strickland pursued the champion with his signature straight stance, looking to connect jabs from a distance. Du Plessis responded with head kicks and punches to control the tempo of the fight.

Both fighters exchanged heavy punches in the second round, with Du Plessis landing the most significant strikes. In the third round, the champion successfully took Strickland to the canvas, but the fight returned to standing exchanges, which Du Plessis dominated.

In the fourth round, Du Plessis put an exclamation mark on his dominant performance by landing a huge right hand to break Strickland's nose. For the rest of the fight, the challenger showed his grit by maintaining his attacks on the champion, but when the final bell rang after five rounds, the judges pronounced Du Plessis the winner by unanimous decision (50–45, 50–45, 49–46) and reigning Middleweight Champion.

"I am a top three pound-for-pound fighter as of tonight, and I'm coming for that number one spot," said Monster Energy's Du Plessis upon defending the UFC Middleweight Championship title at UFC 312 in Sydney.

In the night's co-main event, Monster Energy's Zhang (26-3) came to Sydney to defend her UFC Women's Strawweight title for the third time in her current reign as 115-pound champion. She claimed the title from Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in November 2022 and most recently defended against Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 in April 2024.

The challenger, Suarez (11-1), stepped into the fight on an undefeated record and the betting odds favorite. Time for Zhang to remind the world why the belt is hers to keep!

In round one, Suarez pressured the champion and even landed an early takedown but failed to complete a guillotine choke finish. Zhang fired back in the second round with a barrage of strikes and a choke attempt that rocked Suarez.

In round three, Zhang landed a heavy right hand that almost knocked out Suarez. As the fight went the distance, the champion almost succeeded in locking an arm triangle choke in round four. For the rest of the heated match, Zhang showed her dominance with quick strikes and defended against takedown attempts to claim the unanimous decision victory (49-46, 49-46, 49-45).

"I respect Tatiana, and she was very strong. It's OK that I was the betting underdog," said Monster Energy's Zhang upon defending the Women's Strawweight title at UFC 312 in Sydney.

Dricus Du Plessis and Zhang Weili count amongst Monster Energy's elite UFC athletes along with Kamaru Usman, Jon Jones, Marlon Vera, Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Yair Rodriguez, Jessica-Rose Clark, Valentina Shevchenko, Brandon Moreno, Gilbert Burns, Giga Chikadze, Johnny Walker, Beneil Dariush, Brendan Allen, Jalin Turner, Sean Strickland, Dan Ige, Alex Pereira, Diego Lopes, Daniel Zellhuber, Derrick Lewis, Belal Muhammad, Alexa Grasso, Raul Rosas Jr., Tatsuro Taira, Merab Dvalishvili, and Shara Magomedov.

For more on Monster Energy's MMA athletes, visit http://www.monsterenergy.com. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, bands, believers, and fans. See more about Monster Energy including all of its drinks at http://www.monsterenergy.com.

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