Dricus Du Plessis retained the UFC middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Sean Strickland last night in Sydney, Australia.

The 31-year-old South African champion won 50-45 on two judges’ scorecards and 49-46 on the other.

DDP busted Strickland’s nose in the fourth round on the way to victory. Undefeated Russian Khamzat Chimaev seems to be in line as his next challenger.

ZHANG WEILI RETAINS

Women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili improved her record to 26-3 by defeating the previously undefeated Tatiana Suarez.

Suarez looked strong in the first round, but Weili controlled the rest of the fight for a unanimous decision.

Heavyweight Tallison Teixeira pounded his way to a TKO victory over Justin Tafa in 35 seconds.

Jimmy Crute battled Rodolfo Bellato to a majority draw in a light heavyweight bout. One judge called the fight for Crute, but the other two said it was a draw.

Welterweights kicked off the ESPN+ pay-per-view as Jake Matthews defeated Francisco Prado by unanimous decision.

PRELIMINARY FIGHTS on ESPN2

In a battle of debuting bantamweights, Aleksandre Topuria beat Colby Thicknesse by unanimous decision.

Wang Cong won a women’s flyweight bout over Bruna Brasil by unanimous decision.

Tom Nolan defeated Viacheslav Borschev by unanimous decision at lightweight.

Gabriel Santos used a rear-naked choke to beat Jack Jenkins in Round 3 of a featherweight bout.

EARLY PRELIMS on ESPN+

Quillan Salkilld won his UFC debut at lightweight, knocking out Anshul Jubli in 19 seconds.

Jonathan Micallef beat Kevin Jousset by unanimous decision in a welterweight bout

Rongzhu beat the debuting Kody Steele by unanimous decision at lightweight.