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.

The South African middleweight, who won the belt from the Anaheim native a year ago, makes his second title defense in Saturday’s main event in Sydney

SportsLine's Daniel Vithlani reveals his picks for the UFC 312: du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 fight card from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday