UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland for the second time as he retained his undisputed 185-pound title at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.

Du Plessis busted up and outworked Strickland over the five-round duration at Quodos Bank Arena to claim a much more emphatic decision victory on the scorecards as the South African left no doubt in their championship rematch.

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Du Plessis edged Strickland via razor-thin split decision in their first meeting at UFC 297 as “Stillknocks” dethroned Strickland to claim the 185-pound crown.

Strickland insisted he had done enough to win that first fight, and vowed to exact revenge in the rematch. But in the second meeting, it was Du Plessis who pushed the pace, landed the heavier strikes, and did the most damage as the pair did battle over five grueling rounds in Australia.

In a somewhat slow opening round, Du Plessis’s range-finding shots were enough to outscore a tentative Strickland, who was warned by his coach Eric Nicksick between rounds that he needed to up his output.

But while Strickland raised his pace in Round 2, so did Du Plessis, who outworked the American once again through the second five-minute stanza.

By the time Du Plessis had done the same in the third round, Nicksick was clearly frustrated with his man, and told Strickland that he had 10 minutes to turn the fight around.

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But the fourth round was Du Plessis’ most destructive of the fight, as a big punch left Strickland with a badly broken nose. Remarkably, he managed to reset it before the end of the round, but the damage, figuratively and literally, had been done.

And in the final round, it was the champion still pushing the pace as he looked to keep the former champion on the back foot, defending, rather than chasing an unlikely knockout.

In the end, the pair battled all the way to the final horn, but unlike their first fight, the identity of the winner seemed much more clear-cut.

When the scorecards were totaled, Du Plessis claimed the victory, and his second straight title defense, with scores of 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.

It now puts Du Plessis away and clear at the top of the UFC’s middleweight division, and even though he appeared to address light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira at cageside, other middleweight challenges still remain.

The next man in line at 185 pounds is likely to be Khamzat Chimaev, who ran through former champion Robert Whittaker in scary fashion in his last appearance. A battle between “Borz” and “Stillknocks” for the middleweight title would produce another great clash of styles if booked for later this year.

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