UFC 312 picks and predictions
See who we think will win in Sydney this weekend.
The UFC’s second PPV of 2025 goes down this weekend in Sydney, Australia. They’ve got a South African vs. an American in that main event, go figure. Dricus du Plessis is in that fight, defending his UFC Middleweight title against the man he took it from, Sean Strickland. I’ve muted all the chat leading up to this one and feel like that was a great choice.
The co-main event for this one is Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez for the UFC Strawweight title. Suarez gets her shot for being one of the best female fighters on the planet (regardless of her injury layoffs and who she’s fought — or not fought).
After those two glamour fights… this card sucks. We’ve got recent Contender Series and Road to UFC grads up and down the card. The main card has Talisson Teixeira, who may be a tasty prospect, against Justin Tafa. The main card also has Jimmy Crute and Jake Matthews taking on South American foes.
On the Prelims there’s some interesting-ish fights. Wang Cong gets a chance to erase the epic fail she had last time out, losing as a massive favorite in just her second proper UFC appearance. She’s up against Fighting Nerd Bruna Brasil.
Scroll down for all our picks, including our over/under picks for the main card fights.
If you’re using this info for wagering purposes, please bet responsibly.
Dricus du Plessis (-200) vs. Sean Strickland (+170)
Miguel Class: Their first fight was ugly and close and this will probably be the same. Fundamentally, it’s a weird matchup because both have ways that they can trouble their opponents but they also can nullify each other's offense enough to prevent each other from pulling away. Strickland has his jab and teeps, which both worked well to exploit weaknesses in DDP’s defense and also limit his ability to blitz forward with offense. Strickland’s own defensive awareness and difficulty to head cleanly to the head matches up well with DDP’s loopy strikes that are easy to see coming and catch on the arms.
On the other hand…