Coach Sayif Saud: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 at UFC 312 will be violent 'chess match'

USA Today

06-02-2025

Coach Sayif Saud doesn't expect Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland to hold anything back when their UFC 312 rematch begins.
Less than 13 months after Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) took the middleweight title off Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) by debated split decision at UFC 297, the pair will run it back in Saturday's headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
The first fight delivered some solid action but went down to the wire. Both men believe to this day they clearly one, with Strickland blaming poor judging as well as his performance being hindered by a cut he claims came from an illegal head butt. Du Plessis, meanwhile, thinks there was no controversy and intends on putting a stamp on the sequel.
Saud, who is the head coach at Fortis MMA and was an Analyst of the Year nominee at the 16th annual World MMA Awards, thinks there's no shortage of motivation on both ends going into UFC 312, and that should create a high quality championship fight.
'Sean Strickland is not a f*cking game,' Saud told MMA Junkie. 'Sean Strickland is a guy that I think he builds confidence with experience. He has experience in there with Dricus, going at Dricus. People are kind of counting him out a little bit more in this fight saying, 'Well, Dricus is going to finish, Dricus is getting better and better.' That might be the case, but I still see this is a very close fight. I just think with the experience that Sean Strickland has, mentally I feel like he'll be more prepared. But again, the champion is 30 percent better every time.
'You become the champion, you're literally 30 percent better. The confidence that comes with that. Dricus is a f*cking beast. He knows it doesn't look great, but he don't care. His whole thing is, 'I'm going to out will you.' And that's powerful, man. Fighting is about will, and he out wills people. He really, really does. But that ain't going to be easy to go do against Sean Strickland, because Sean Strickland is a five-round fighter.'
Strickland, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings, has received some criticism for his fighting style not meeting the standards he sets with his pre-fight trash talk. Strickland has had some underwhelming performances, but the effectiveness of his jab and teep kicks cannot be underestimated.
Saud anticipated Strickland's trademarks will all be there for the rematch, but he thinks there will be a more vicious intend to his approach in this particular contest.
'We've seen him when he hurts guys, he goes after them,' Saudi said of Strickland. 'I think he's going to try to hurt Dricus. I think he wants to hurt Dricus. I think he doesn't like Dricus, and I think Dricus doesn't like him, and I think we're going to see quite a battle.'
No. 1-ranked Du Plessis, 31, won't be short on answers if Strickland, 33, turns up his desire for the finish, however, and that's why Saud thinks anyone predicting a dull contest will be proven wrong.
'I think we're going to see what we saw (in the first fight), but a little more aggressive version of that,' Saud said. 'I think they're going to add on a bit, they're going to study the tape and they're going to come up with some more stuff. But Dricus' coach is really, really good at game planning. This is going to be a real chess match between these two, and it's going to be violent.'
To hear more of Saud's breakdown of Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 at UFC 312, check out his complete appearance on 'The Bohnfire' podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 312.