- UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs Sean Strickland II will go down in Sydney on February 9th, 2025.
- The last Australian pay-per-view event was August’s UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya; while the most recent Sydney card was UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland back in late 2023.
- This story will be updated as further details emerge.
Mere months after the Perth grudge match between reigning middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion has confirmed its highly anticipated return to Sydney for UFC 312.
This past weekend, the main and co-main events were finally revealed: a rematch between Dricus du Plessis and firebrand middleweight contender Sean Strickland, alongside the title defence of women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili against Tatiana Suarez.
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Aside from a return to Aussie soil for both du Plessis and Strickland, the forthcoming affair represents the second pay-per-view event of a four-year / $16 million agreement between the TKO Group subsidiary, and the NSW Government (through Destination New South Wales).
“Get ready for another cracking event at Qudos Bank Arena, featuring the best local and international UFC athletes,” said Peter Kloczko, UFC Vice President of ANZ.
“We value the support from our event partners Destination NSW and hope to deliver another record-breaking result, building off the success of [UFC 293: Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland] in September 2023.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns added: “UFC’s return to Sydney is another step in us delivering on this election commitment.”
“Last year’s event was a huge success and we expect next year’s event will match that, showcasing Sydney on the global stage as a top destination for sporting events.”
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Sydney’s UFC 312 will effectively mark the fourth pay-per-view event hosted on Australian shores since 2022 — kickstarted by the much-debated UFC 284: Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski at Perth’s RAC Arena.
Prior to this ongoing golden age of Aussie UFC events, the last time the Octagon hit Sydney was back in late 2017 for UFC Fight Night: Fabricio Werdum vs Marcin Tybura (also held in the Qudos Bank Arena).
Just to put into perspective how long ago that was: Tai Tuivasa threw hands in the preliminary card while our former featherweight king and #1 pound-for-pound fighter, Alexander Volkanovski, stepped up for the main card’s lowest-billed bout.
Tickets go on sale this week. Keep an eye out here for updates, e.g. UFC 312 main card, start time, etc.
UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs Sean Strickland II (Main Card)
Main event. Five rounds. Middleweight title fight.
- Date: Sunday February 9th, 2025
- Event: UFC 312
- Venue: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Other confirmed fights include the following:
- Zhang Weili (C) vs Tatiana Suarez (Women’s Strawweight Title Fight)
- Quillan Salkilld vs Anshul Jubli (Lightweight)
- Rei Tsuruya vs Stewart Nicoll (Flyweight)
- Jimmy Crute vs Marcin Prachnio (Light Heavyweight)
Rumoured fights include the following:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs ??? (Featherweight)
- Jack Jenkins vs ??? (Featherweight)
- Jack Della Maddalena vs ??? (Welterweight)
- Steve Erceg vs ??? (Flyweight)
- Tai Tuivasa vs ??? (Heavyweight)
- Justin Tafa / Junior Tafa vs ??? (Heavyweight)
Editor’s Note: Conor McGregor has recently expressed interest in fighting around February 2025. But we’ll believe it when we see it.
