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Yizha and Gabriel Santos | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Gabriel Santos dreamed of being a cowboy, and he now gets to travel the world punching people in the face for a living. Chute Boxe featherweight “Mosquitinho” reenters the octagon Saturday to face Australia’s own Jack Jenkins in enemy territory at UFC 312 in Sydney, but looks back at daily battles he’s fought since his childhood as a testament of his heart and determination. Born in Beberibe, a small town located just outside state capital Fortaleza, the Brazilian talent was raised by his mother in a small farm, where she worked as a housekeeper. “I was a very handful child, and I loved my animals,” Santos told MMA Fighting. “My dream was to be a cowboy, but my mom didn’t have money for such thing. We couldn’t buy anything, imagine buying bulls and cows. One day she managed to buy me a little horse and that was the world for me.” His life took a turn when a cousin started taking jiu-jitsu classes and showed up to the farm looking to teach him some moves. Santos’ only connection to fighting at the time were through movies and cartoons, especially Bloodsport and Dragon Ball Z. They got a large canvas on the ground to use as mat, and began practicing. Santos was taught one single move in those improvised grappling classes, which proved useful when his mother’s bosses decided to sell the farm, leaving them no alternative but to move to the city. “He taught me to pass the guard, knee on belly and Americana,” Santos said. “When I moved to the city, I decided to join a jiu-jitsu gym and tapped everybody with that same move [laughs]. I wanted to compete in a tournament right away, but the coach said it was too soon. Months later I got to compete, though, and I never stopped since.” Santos added more techniques to his arsenal and started collecting medals in the local circuit because falling in love with a different sport: mixed martial arts. The year was 2013 and the UFC was landing in Fortaleza for the very first time for a card headlined by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum that also featured a trio of local talents, Rony Jason, Godofredo Pepey and Caio Magalhaes. For a 16-year-old grappler, that was a sign that he could have a future in the sport. “I still love competing in jiu-jitsu, but it wasn’t paying good money back then, so I started focusing on doing MMA instead,” said Santos, who made his MMA debut 2014. “It’s crazy to look back and see that in 2014 I was walking out to the same walkout song Charles ‘do Bronx’ [Oliveira] did, and now we’re on the same team.” Santos won 10 in a row in the Brazilian circuit to earn a shot in the UFC, claiming titles at LFA and Future MMA with wins over the likes of Jose Delano and future UFC fighter—and now teammate—Elves Brener. His first octagon appearance came as a replacement for Nathaniel Wood, losing to Lerone Murphy in London. Santos had his back against the wall after a stoppage defeat to David Onama, but rebounded with a decision win against Yizha a year later. Santos’ first son is due five weeks after UFC 312, and the Chute Boxe athlete joked he’s expecting a perfect night in Australia “to end the hardest camp of my life and then start a new one.” Jenkins is 3-1 under the UFC banner and victorious in 10 of his last 11, and Santos knows he’s in for a war. “I found out I was going to become a father right before my last fight and that gave me more fire. It’s more motivation, You’re fighting for more now,” Santos said. “It’s a dream for me to fight in Australia, so I’m going with everything I can for this fight. We have to be ready for everything in a fight. You just can’t plan one thing, really, but I do believe I’ll tap him.”

Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland | Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Dricus du Plessis is ready to silence the doubters. This Saturday, du Plessis defends his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 312, rematching the man he won the belt from, Sean Strickland. Their first fight was a closely contested battle that du Plessis edged out via split decision, a decision Strickland and many fans believe wasn’t the right one. But du Plessis has no doubts about who won. “If you play the odds like Strickland, having eight split decisions in your career, a split decision is what you call a coin flip,” du Plessis said at the UFC 312 Media Day. “If you flip that coin eight times, you’re bound to get unlucky a couple of times. He got lucky with the split decision otherwise we wouldn’t be here now. “I am very happy that they made this fight. I was asking for this fight up until the Khamzat thing happened, then I would have preferred that fight. But I’m really happy this fight is happening because now I can go and say we’re going to settle this. We’re going to put this to bed, because all the Strickland fans that believe he won that fight, I can just go out and put this behind me. ... “For me right now, I think Strickland is the best middleweight in the world, behind myself, and he deserves to be here.” Heading into their rematch, du Plessis has no illusions about what he’s facing. He knows the first fight was “a war” and has the utmost respect for Strickland. However, the middleweight champion is taking some confidence from winning the first go around, and from how much he’s improved since. “I did the right things to win that fight,” du Plessis said. “He is going to make adjustments to be better. I have to do the same thing. It’s not that I have to do anything different. I have to do whatever I’ve been doing, better. I’ve had a year now to improve on that performance, to be cleaner, to be fitter, stronger, and in terms of strength, that’s not a problem. Just being cleaner, picking the shots better, being more patient. “This is not my first UFC title fight anymore, and I know I can push that pace for five rounds. So that changes my dynamic. But I’m not going into this fight thinking it’s the same fight as the first one. He’s going to make the adjustments, he knows what it’s like in there with me, just like I know what he’s doing. “His team is incredible. He has an incredibly good coach. Coach Eric [Nicksick] is very well-respected and I have a world of respect for him. I know he’s a master at the game plan and figuring it out, but so are my coaches and my team. So yeah, very similar in the fight because we both now know, and how much could have really changed? It’s just about being cleaner and better at everything.” Of course, it might not be exactly that way. Du Plessis also acknowledges that he can’t get too caught up in how their first battle went, because things move quickly in MMA, which is why he prepared for this fight like he’ll see a whole new Strickland come Saturday. “I think it can but it can also bite you in the ass,” du Plessis said when asked about putting too much stock in their first fight. “If you think you’re fighting a certain style and a certain guy and all of a sudden he comes out completely different, that can throw you off, too. To think of the second fight the same as the first fight would be the same level as underestimating Sean Strickland, which I’m not doing. “I’m expecting the best fighter in the world to show up, just like I’ve expected the best fighter in the world to show up every single time. Like we saw with Adesanya. When he showed up I knew I was to fight the best Adesanya. Everybody knew. He said it, everybody said he looked incredible. I went out there to be the best Adesanya, just like I’m out there to beat the best Strickland that we’ve ever seen. “His fight style doesn’t have any effect on how I fight. I’m going out there to do what I do and do it as the world champion, the best in the world. He’s going to be the best Strickland in the world and we’re going to see whose best is the best.”

Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland clash in the UFC 312 main event Saturday | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC MMA Fighting has UFC 312 results for the du plessis vs. Strickland fight card, a live blog for all the top three fights, and more from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday night. In the main event, UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis aims to defend his title against former champion Sean Strickland in a rematch. Du Plessis defeated Strickland via split decision (47-48, 48-47 x2) at UFC 297 on Jan. 20, 2024. UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili puts her UFC belt on the line against Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event. Zhang has won four straight fights, while Suarez is off to a 10-0 start to her career. Check out the UFC 312 results below. Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET) Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado Prelims (ESPN2/ESPN+/Disney+ at 8 p.m. ET) Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil Aleksandre Topuria vs. Colby Thicknesse Prelims (ESPN+/Disney+ at 6:30 p.m. ET) Kody Steele vs. Rongzhu Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC MMA Fighting has a live stream watch party for Saturday’s UFC 312 event, which takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. In the main event, Dricus du Plessis puts his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland in a rematch. Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and other special guests to watch along with UFC 312 as the main card happens. In the co-main event, dominant strawweight champion Zhang Weili defends her belt against the undefeated Tatiana Suarez — who competes for the first time since August 2023. UFC 312 also features a heavyweight featured bout between undefeated Brazilian fighter, and UFC debutant Tallison Teixeira as he faces Justin Tafa, while Jimmy Crute competes for the first time in nearly two years against Rodolfo Bellato in a light heavyweight tilt. The main card opens with a welterweight clash between Australia’s Jake Matthews and Francisco Prado. Watch MMA Fighting’s UFC 312 Watch Party beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. PT.

Dustin Poirier | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Dustin Poirier is adamant that he only has one fight left, and he wants it to be special. Last summer, Poirier fell short in his attempt to claim the UFC lightweight title, getting submitted by Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. After the loss, Poirier teased retirement but later walked that back, saying he wanted at least one more fight to go out on. And that’s still the plan for “The Diamond.” “I’m still thinking about it, and me and the UFC, for the past couple of months, have been working on it,” Poirier told Jim Rome on Friday. “I came up to them with the idea that I would love to lay the gloves down where I picked them up, in Louisiana. The UFC hasn’t been here in 10 or 11 years, so to bring the organization, bring the UFC back to the state of Louisiana and retire here it means a lot to me, and I do think it could happen. I think we’re getting close. Nothing is for sure yet, but this summer is likely, I would say. ... “I’ve been in the UFC so long and done so much with them, I personally thought when I brought this idea to them, since they haven’t been here in so long, that they would kind of brush it aside. But they entertained it, and I was so excited when they called me back and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get in touch with Louisiana, get in touch with New Orleans, and make something happen.’” The UFC has not been to Louisiana since 2015, a Fight Night event headlined by a middleweight bout between Dan Henderson and Tim Boetsch. As for who Poirier may face in his final bout, that’s still up in the air. The former interim lightweight champion said when he first pitched the idea to the powers that be, he was hoping for a trilogy bout against Justin Gaethje, however, that plan went up in smoke when Gaethje booked a fight against Dan Hooker at UFC 313 next month. “My first pick when we first started talking about a retirement in Louisiana was Justin Gaethje because we’re 1-1,” Poirier said. “I beat him, he beat me. I would hate to close my career out without finishing this thing off right. But when I brought it to there attention, he already had a fight booked in March, I believe, against Dan Hooker. Which is an incredible fight. I’m a big fan of both guys, and that’s going to be a war that you cannot miss. “But we’ll see. We’ve got some names we’re working on.” One possibility that’s been increasingly thrown out from fans is rising lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett. But Poirier shot that down quickly. “That’s an interesting fight, but not for my retirement fight,” Poirier said when asked about Pimblett. “It’s legends only, man. And Poirier also says there’s no chance he takes a Pimblett fight for fun before ending his career in “The Big Easy” as planned. “The Diamond” is set on making the walk only one final time. “I’m done,” Poirier said. “I have 50-something cage fights. Like I said, I still have more to give. There’s a lot of opportunities and big fights that can be made, but I’ve just been doing it so long, and I’m in a place with my other ventures and my family. I want to be home in a regular routine. I’ve given this sport a lot, and I think I’ve given it enough.”