UFC 312: Sean Strickland bloodied and broken by Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland has been utterly dominated in his UFC blockbuster, with his trainer and commentators unleashing on the US star.

'OH MY GOD': Star utterly dominated in insane UFC bloodbath

Dricus du Plessis has defended his middleweight belt with an utter domination of Sean Strickland at UFC 312 in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.

Strickland began the fight very casually and despite the best efforts of his corner urging him to up the ante, the American was thoroughly outclassed as Du Plessis won by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46).

UFC 313: Pereira v Ankalaev | SUN 9 MARCH | Alex Pereira will put his light heavyweight title on the line for a fourth time against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.| Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.

The South African broke Strickland’s nose midway through the fourth round and was more active throughout — he remains the man to beat in one of the UFC’s most stacked divisions.

It was an emphatic result for Du Plessis a year after he edged Strickland via split decision. There was no doubt who the better fighter was this time around.

Watch the full fight highlights in the video player above

Elsewhere, dominant women’s champion Weili Zhang made the fourth defence of her 115lbs belt against Tatiana Suarez.

There was huge drama during the preliminary card with Aussies Quillan Salkilld winning via a 19-second KO before fellow Aussie Jonathan Micallef also won his fight via a unanimous decision.

There were mixed results for the other Australian fighters on the card, with Jake Matthews securing a win but heavyweight Justin Tafa was knocked out in 35 seconds.

Originally published as UFC 312: Sean Strickland bloodied and broken by Dricus du Plessis