Dana White has decided to give shockwaves for 2025 before the new year has even started. He not only gave banger matchups for UFC 311 but also decided to surprise fans for UFC 312. The boss pitted Dricus Du Plessis against Sean Strickland in a rematch for this fight that will happen in Australia!

‘Tarzan’ however, has already declared that he is not interested in fighting DDP in ‘The Land Down Under,’ but now his fate has been sealed. The thing is, Chael Sonnen, who was not so confident in Sean Strickland’s abilities against DDP, changed his tune as UFC 312 was announced.

Chael Sonnen takes Sean Strickland’s side for UFC 312

‘The American Gangster’ Chael Sonnen was back with his discussions on the latest matchup between ‘Stillknocks’ and Strickland. The fighter with 16 UFC wins is going to run things back with middleweight champ DDP, who has 8 wins in the UFC till now. Strickland lost his middleweight title to Du Plessis by split decision in a competitive back-and-forth contest at UFC 297. However, he was determined to win the fight and Sonnen disagreed with that.

However, in his latest YouTube video, he narrowed down how Strickland has achieved everything in the UFC because he took the opportunity and was not handed it on a silver platter. Sonnen started by saying, “Daniel Cormier asked me what I thought of Sean Strickland being the next for Dricus Du Plessis. Excuse me! Excuse me! What do I think about that? That’s a great question to ask me. 6 months ago when Sean Strickland took out Paulo Costa 5 straight rounds and became the no. 1 contender.”

Then he touched upon the fact that Khazmat Chimaev was snubbed for UFC 312. Even Dricus Du Plessis spoke on the same and wrote on X. “Just for clarification. I preferred the Khamzat fight but the rematch is a fight most wanted before Khamzat vs Withaker. I’m not unhappy with the UFC’s decision like I said I’ll fight the man fans think is the next best guy he was promised the fight so Strickland it is,” Du Plessis penned.

With the same thought, Chael Sonnen explained that since Chimaev defeated Whittaker at UFC 308, the clash between ‘Borz’ and DDP was expected by the fans and UFC pundits alike. However, Sonnen also praised Strickland, saying, “The idea that Sean should somehow be happy thank you to the Twitter sphere for doing this. Thank you to Dana and Hunter. F U X 3 he took it Sean Strickland hasn’t been given a damn thing since he got here! And the only things he has are the things that he took.” This debate on Strickland vs. DDP also stretched to Joe Rogan, who had a different opinion from Daniel Cormier and Sonnen.

Joe Rogan sides with DDP while Cormier stands by Strickland

During the broadcast of UFC 310 on ESPN MMA, Rogan expressed his ideas on the matchup between ‘Tarzan’ and Dricus du Plessis. He said that their first fight was a pretty close affair. However, the UFC color commentator sided with DDP since he defeated top dogs like Strickland, Israel Adesanya, and Robert Whittaker.

Cormier on the other hand, sided with Strickland and claimed that the latter was a ‘monster’ as well. He said, “Sean Strickland is a monster, too. They had a very close fight last time. These guys are going to battle for the middleweight championship. That’s a fun fight. It was very fun last time. I wonder who’s going to make that adjustment.” 

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen what this rematch will amount to. DDP has already garnered praise and victories in his fights so far but Strickland garnered criticism so we need to wait and see what happens. Will Strickland write new history? Or the old tale will be repeated?