Dricus Du Plessis Shatters The Nose Of Sean Strickland And Puts A Stamp On Their Rivalry With A Dominant Win At UFC 312

Well that was an absolute ass whooping. It wasn't all that exciting or pretty, but Dricus Du Plessis just dominated Sean Strickland for five straight rounds in the UFC 312 main event, and broke his nose pretty badly towards the end of their rematch for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Unlike their first meeting, this one was never in doubt for DDP. He was faster, stronger, and better everywhere in that octagon. Strickland showed off his toughness throughout the scrap, and reset his own nose after it was shattered, but he didn't have much more than that to show off tonight. 

I appreciated that he didn't try to make any excuses after the fight - especially with the staph narrative already out there....

....but as respectfully as I can possibly say this: I think I just hate watching Sean Strickland fight. He works such a frustrating style for opponents that I think it's just frustrating for viewers too. DDP is an awkward fighter as well, which made for an extra weird couple fights between them, but I mean look at this....

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Dricus called out Alex Pereira after the fight, who was in the corner of Sean Strickland/in the octagon during his post-fight interview, but I feel like everyone knows it's Khamzat's turn next - love him or hate him….

I'm pretty sure Poatan's doing just fine at 205, as well. I doubt he ever wants to cut to middleweight ever again.

Weili Zhang also successfully defended her UFC Strawweight Championship in the co-main event tonight, against the previously undefeated Tatiana Suarez - and while neither bout will be remembered in any 'Best Of' year-end lists, they were really tremendous additions to the each champ's resumes. They both looked phenomenal shutting down their rightful contenders and Weili reminded everyone why making the champ the underdog here was extremely foolish. She got the crowd as fired up as they were all night too….

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I did horribly picks-wise tonight (par for the course) and actually forgot to place the bet on my one big winner (Weili Zhang), so it wasn't a great event for me. Luckily though, my unit size is $5, and the UFC is back next week with Jared Cannonier vs Robocop - so I'll get redemption on that card. You win some, you lose some. That's the game.

We'll be sure to break down UFC 312 and all of the fallout on the next edition of the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show this week, so make sure you subscribe HERE!