UFC 312 is light on value, especially compared to UFC 311, but the co-main event is solid. UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili makes the third defense of her second title reign against Tatiana Suarez. "The Ultimate Fighter 23" winner Suarez was labeled a future champion out of the gate, but frequent injuries delayed the inevitable.

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