UFC 312 blew the roof off Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025), leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Tatiana Suarez, who was unable to fulfill her championship dreams after she was dominated by reigning women’s Strawweight champion, Zhang Weili.
And Justin Tafa, who was absolutely obliterated by Tallison Teixeira in 35 seconds (see it again here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into his rematch against Dricus du Plessis, “Tarzan” undoubtedly heard the noise (it was loud) about getting a chance to reclaim the Middleweight title so quickly against “DDP,” especially since he never had a successful 185-pound title defense before coughing it up.
Nevertheless, when gifted an opportunity like that, almost anyone would have accepted it. Unfortunately for Strickland, it was worse than the first fight, with a few more bumps and bruises to show off in the rematch.
For 25 minutes, the fight stayed on the feet with the exception of one takedown from “Stillknocks.” Strickland did stay busy, but du Plessis was more than up for the task, matching his foe’s intensity. The South African champion, however, was more tactical and precise, doing more than enough — including shattering Strickalnd’s nose in six places in round four — to secure the unanimous decision win.
After the defeat, Strickland posted a positive message on Instagram for all his loyal fans.
“What’s up, guys?” Strickland began the video. “We’ve been here once or twice. I’m so grateful for you guys’ support. You guys are so awesome, win or lose, you guys always ride and I appreciate you. Dricus, f—king hats off, hell of a fight, broke my nose in six places. The silver lining is my nose is so broken it’s really easy to reset, so that was a new experience.
“I’ll be quick,” Strickland added. “I get so many messages from fans, friends, family, like, ‘Hold your head up, it’s OK.’ I’m good. Losing sucks, but we all lose in life. And I talk to so many people whether they lose their job, their girlfriend breaks up with them, and they just find themselves in this hole, but me, I love the misery. I love the suffering, because when you’re miserable, when you’re in pain, when you’re suffering, the moment that’s gone — and it will end, it will be a new day, a better day — life’s good.
“So, I’m grateful and being grateful kind of keeps my head up,” he concluded. “For you guys going through it, look at me, I just broke my nose in front of millions of people. It f—king sucks, I lost a fight, and I’ve still got to wake up tomorrow and hold my head up and be, like, ‘Hey man, it’s a new day. Got to sack up and be a man.’ So. for you guys going through it, look at me, and I hope that, f—king, your day gets better.”
Strickland now finds himself in a tough position because the road to another title fight will long and arduous. In fact, if “DDP” remains on the throne, it’s almost out of the question that Strickland can secure a trilogy fight after such a poor performance “Down Under.” Sure, Strickland can work his way up, but his best bet for another title bout will be based on if du Plessis coughs it up.
For now, Strickland will take some time to heal his nose. When he does return, perhaps a rematch against Israel Adesanya is in order. Strickland dethroned “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 293 in back in Sept. 2023, and the two men never go a chance to run it back. With both coming off tough defeats, perhaps now is as good a time as any to make it happen.
Just make sure everyone is healthy.
For complete UFC 312 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
