Be careful asking UFC President Dana White about the Tuesdays when his team “picks fights” to headline upcoming pay-per-view shows.
On Saturday, during the UFC 310 broadcast, the promotion officially announced the main and co-main event fights for UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, on February 8.
In the main event, UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will defend his title against Sean Strickland in a rematch of their January fight.
The first fight saw Strickland lose his title in a controversial split decision in favor of du Plessis.
The co-main event is another title fight: UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang will defend her title against No. 1 contender Tatiana Suarez.
The main event was a bit surprising to some, but White didn’t seem too thrilled to dive deep into the process his team went through in making the decision. A reporter asked White how close Khamzat Chimaev was to getting the title shot ahead of Strickland.
“How close was it?” White asked. “Guys, what are you, f######? Is tonight stupid question night?”
The reporter clarified he was asking because White had previously said Chimaev might have leapfrogged Strickland for the title shot following an impressive first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308.
“He’s not next. How close was he? I don’t know. We sit in a room every Tuesday, and we pick fights. He’s always in the conversation.”
Here is a look at that portion of the post-UFC-310 presser.
Despite White’s response, the question was reasonable.
Chimaev looked amazing in his win over Whittaker, and White did say he might be next. Even du Plessis mentioned that he’d prefer to fight Chimaev over a rematch with Strickland.
However, before that, White formerly announced Strickland was next after he beat Paulo Costa in June. While I agree with du Plessis that the more interesting fight is a title defense against Chimaev, the proper thing to do is to keep the promise to Strickland.
He narrowly lost his title and defeated a contender in his next fight. Despite how problematic he can be outside the Octagon and how boring he can be inside it, he was offered the title shot and did nothing to disqualify himself—by UFC standards.
What’s Next? UFC Tampa
The final UFC event of 2024 takes place on Saturday, December 14, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The card looks strong on paper, featuring a balance of up-and-coming fighters, established veterans, and a main event with potential title implications.
The featured fight will see former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington taking on Joaquin Buckley. If Buckley wins, he could be just one more victory away from a title shot. If Covington wins, he could position himself to re-enter the title picture at 170 pounds.
Here is a look at the entire card:
- Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley (Welterweight)
- Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo (Featherweight)
- Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva (Flyweight)
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino (Light Heavyweight)
- Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez (Bantamweight)
- Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos (Light Heavyweight)
- Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar (Lightweight)
- Drakkar Klose vs. Joel Alvarez (Lightweight)
- Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla (Featherweight)
- Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima (Featherweight)
- Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (Flyweight)
- Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras (Bantamweight)
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Joseline Knutsson (Strawweight)
