Sean Strickland Reverses UFC 312 Pact with Dricus Du Plessis
No formal pact was made. On January 22, 2025, Strickland challenged Du Plessis to keep the fight standing; the champion rejected the proposal and said he would fight wherever the contest went. The contemporary report on the challenge and response makes clear that it was public trash talk, not a binding agreement that was later reversed.
The context mattered. Du Plessis had won their first meeting by split decision in January 2024 to take the championship, while Strickland believed he deserved an immediate rematch. The second fight was scheduled for February 8, 2025, at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Strickland’s challenge played on the contrast between his boxing-heavy approach and Du Plessis’ mix of striking, clinch work and wrestling. But once the champion refused to limit his options, the bout proceeded under the standard mixed-martial-arts rules.
Strickland could ask for a stand-up contest, and Du Plessis could decline. The exchange created a useful storyline for fight week, but it could not predict the tactics either man would choose once the cage door closed. The official post-fight interview with Strickland is available for his own reaction after the result.
Du Plessis won the rematch by unanimous decision and retained his middleweight title. The judges scored it 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46, according to the official scorecards. The result was decisive on the cards, despite the close first fight and the promotional focus on whether the sequel would become a pure striking match. It also meant Strickland’s proposed terms did not define the outcome: the champion’s refusal left both competitors free to use their full skill sets, and the judges awarded Du Plessis every round on two cards.
Strickland did not compete again for a year. He returned in Houston on February 21, 2026, against Anthony Hernandez and stopped him with strikes at 2:23 of the third round. That win halted Hernandez’s eight-fight streak and put Strickland back in the title conversation, according to the promotion’s official Houston scorecard report. It was a very different ending from the Sydney title fight, where the judges’ decisions across five rounds settled the contest.
The lasting lesson from the “pact” story is modest: fighters often use public challenges to shape the narrative before a major bout, but only agreed rules govern what happens in competition. Strickland wanted Du Plessis to stand with him; Du Plessis declined to promise that. The rematch then produced a clear scorecard win for the champion, while Strickland’s later finish of Hernandez showed that he remained a dangerous contender. This version keeps the pre-fight exchange in perspective and records the result, rather than treating an unaccepted challenge as a deal that was broken.
