With both fighters being deceptively difficult to kill, their first encounter back at UFC 297 ended up being a tactical, back-and-forth battle that saw Du Plessis narrowly scrape out a split decision win on the scorecards to become the new champion at 185 pounds.

This is the second title defense for the 31-year-old Du Plessis (22-2), a -210 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook. He defeated Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.

The main event will see Dricus du Plessis attempt to defend his middleweight belt for the second time when he and Sean Strickland square off in a rematch of their 2024 meeting. Strickland rebounded from losing his title with a split decision over former title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 302,