Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will hold a special pre-fight press conference today (Thurs., Feb. 6, 2025), LIVE at 2 a.m. ET featuring the top stars from the upcoming UFC 312 pay-per-view (PPV) fight card. UFC 312 takes place this Sat. night (Feb. 8) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, and will be headlined by the middleweight title fight pitting reigning 185-pound kingpin, Dricus Du Plessis, against former division titleholder, Sean Strickland, a five-round showdown that follows the strawweight title fight between current 155-pound champion, Zhang Weili, and undefeated division contender, Tatiana Suarez.
“I was so into the sport — I watched fight movies and I always tried these submissions,” Du Plessis said on the MightyCast show. “‘Never Back Down’ was a movie that came out when I was 14. That was the movie that motivated me to become a professional fighter. I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever. The guy is beating up his enemy, he’s getting the hot girl. This is it… I wanna do this.’ That sparked a phase and it just never went away.”
I’m glad he didn’t read our review of Never Back Down or we might have never seen “Stillknocks” inside the Octagon.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 312 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 312: “Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 312 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
