Recap: Champions Retain Their Gold at UFC 312 on ESPN+

The UFC put on a show for fight fans in Australia tonight as UFC 312 brought the octagon back to Sydney. Two championship bouts headlined a card loaded with talented fighters and entertaining fights. But in the end, it was the champions who owned the night.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 312 preview.

Prelim Highlights

Wang Cong put on a striking clinic in a prelim matchup against Bruna Brasil. The two fought a very close first round, with Cong likely stealing it thanks to a late takedown after Brasil attempted a spinning attack. In the second though, Cong opened up with her hands and Brasil seemed frozen. Cong landed some big combinations including a jab and heavy calf kick in the closing seconds. The third round saw more of the same and, while Brasil threw some more wild spinning attacks in the closing seconds, it was an easy decision victory for Wang, who could have a nice future in the UFC.

Tom Nolan and Viacheslav Borshchev put on a show in their meeting. Nolan furiously and relentlessly threw creative strikes for 15 straight minutes, adding quite a few to his highlight reel. However, Borshchev showed incredible toughness and just kept on coming. Nolan locked up a choke early on but wasn’t able to put Borshchev away. Both men were very impressive, but Nolan seemed to have just a slight edge in every aspect of the fight and he went on to take a decision victory. It was quite a showing and Tom Nolan is a name to remember going forward.

In the featured prelim, Gabriel Santos impressed in a showdown with Jack Jenkins. It was Jenkins who landed a devastating head kick in the first round, dropping Santos. However, when he jumped on his opponent, Santos quickly locked up a triangle choke and nearly stole the victory right there. Jenkins survived but only for Santos to control the fight from that moment on. In the third, Santos landed a front kick to the face that rocked Jenkins. Santos pounced, took the back and locked in a choke for a huge victory.

Main Card Highlights

Jake Matthews and Francisco Prado brought some energy to open up the main card. The two welterweights threw their hands for 15 minutes, exchanging big strikes again and again. Matthews utilized his speed and reach advantage to get the better of most of those exchanges, but Prado proved to be a tough out and he landed some good shots of his own. Matthews staggered his opponent for a moment in the third but couldn’t quite get the finish. Instead, he had to settle for a unanimous decision victory.

Jimmy Crute and Rodolfo Belatto kept the energy up with an absolute war to follow that up. Early in the first, Belatto scored a takedown but immediately got reversed and Crute ended up in the mount position. He landed some massive ground and pound from there and seemed to really hurt Belatto. Eventually they got back to their feet and Crute cracked Belatto with a right hand that dropped him. Belatto survived the round though and then managed to turn things around. Both guys were clearly exhausted and they simply stood in the pocket and landed shot after shot. They fought the full three rounds and went to a decision. Crute’s dominant first round earned him a 10-8 score but Belatto won the next two rounds according to two of the judges so the result was a majority draw. This is one fight a lot of fans would love to see the UFC simply run back.

Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa

When you get two big heavyweights in the octagon like this, you just get the feeling the fight isn’t going to last long. And that was exactly the case here. Tallison Teixeira brought the pressure to Justin Tafa almost immediately and landed some big shots. Eventually, Tafa backed up to the fence and tried to drop down. As he did, Teixeira landed a huge knee and dropped his opponent. He landed three or four big shots on the ground before the ref called for the stoppage, awarding a very quick knockout win for Teixeira. This was a statement victory for a guy who is now 8-0 and has never seen a second round.

My pick: Teixeira via 1st round knockout

Result: Teixeira via 1st round knockout

Zhang Weili def. Tatiana Suarez

This was an interesting stylistic matchup and the first time in a long time Zhang Weili came into the fight as an underdog. Tatiana Suarez went to her grappling game early and secured a takedown on the champ, but she was unable to really advance or inflict any damage. Late in the first round, the champ was able to get herself to a dominant position and possibly steal it from Suarez. Then things really opened up for Weili as she started to really let her hands go and find success on the feet. She was also able to stuff multiple takedown attempts from Suarez and it started to seem as though the challenger was in over her head. The third saw more of the same and Weili actually took Suarez down in the fourth and maintained a dominant position for most of the round. The final round saw more of the same as Weili got top position again and relentlessly rained punches until the final bell. It was yet another dominant performance for the champ and in a fight where she was considered the underdog.

My pick: Weili via decision

Result: Weili via decision

Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland

In a highly anticipated main event rematch, Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland put on a strong show. The first round was close but Du Plessis was certainly the more active fighter and he landed some clean shots. Surprisingly he didn’t look for any takedowns, which would be the story of the fight after he had plenty of grappling success in their first meeting. The second round was closer but the champion was still the aggressor. The third was even closer and Strickland may have taken it, but in the fourth, Du Plessis landed a right hand that broke Strickland’s nose. That put the challenger in some trouble and the champ looked for the finish but couldn’t quite get it. In the fifth and final round, Du Plessis continued to push the pace. Strickland landed some shots of his own but this fight was all Du Plessis who retained his championship with an impressive decision victory. After the fight, he seemed to call out light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, putting another super fight on the table.

My pick: Du Plessis via decision

Result: Du Plessis via decision

The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, February 15 for UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Rodrigues.