5 biggest winners from UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2

UFC 312 is now in the books, with the fans in Sydney treated to a largely mid-level event. Unfortunately, this was not a memorable show overall.

Of course, even on an unmemorable card like UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2, a handful of fighters produced excellent performances.

So who were the main victors Down Under this weekend? A number of names come to mind.

Here are the five biggest winners from UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2.

---

#5. Aleksandre Topuria - defeated Colby Thicknesse in a UFC bantamweight bout

There's always some intrigue whenever the sibling of a hugely successful fighter makes their own UFC debut. Aleksandre Topuria's first octagon bout, though, was even more interesting than usual.

The older brother of current featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria was initially set to face Cody Haddon, but a late switch landed him against fellow debutant Colby Thicknesse.

That instantly added another angle to the fight, as Thicknesse is one of the primary training partners of Alexander Volkanovski.

As most people know, the younger Topuria ended Volkanovski's reign as featherweight champ last year, with the two apparently set to rematch later this year.

So did 'El Conquistador' vs. Thicknesse give us any indication as to how Topuria vs. Volkanovski part 2 might go? If it did, then 'Alexander the Great' is in trouble.

Just like his brother, Topuria hunted his foe down, landed some clubbing punches, inclduing a first-round knockdown, and overpowered Thicknesse on the ground too.

Sure, Thicknesse took the fight on late notice and is clearly not the same kind of fighter as Volkanovski, but the overarching feeling was that 'El Matador' had gotten one over on the Aussie again, albeit this time by proxy.

Whether Topuria goes onto the same success as his brother is hard to say, but for now, he should definitely be considered one of UFC 312's big winners.

---

#4. Tallison Teixeira - defeated Justin Tafa in a UFC heavyweight bout

Given the thin nature of the UFC's heavyweight division right now, there was a lot of spotlight on prospect Tallison Teixeira this weekend.

'Xicao' had earned his contract with the promotion with a thrilling knockout on Dana White's Contender Series, and looked to have the right level of physicality to succeed at the top.

However, heavyweight is also wildly unpredictable, and other physically blessed fighters have come unstuck in the octagon before.

Thankfully, Teixeira didn't follow that path. Instead, the Brazilian needed less than a minute to dispatch Justin Tafa, battering him with an elbow to the head and a nasty follow-up salvo of strikes.

Given some of the fighters who currently populate the top fifteen at heavyweight, Teixeira will probably only need one more win to move onto that list. It seems ludicrous, but that's the nature of the division right now.

Therefore, for both scoring a finish on a card devoid of them, and for not completely wilting under the spotlight, 'Xicao' should be considered one of this weekend's big winners.

---

#3. Jake Matthews - defeated Francisco Prado in a UFC welterweight bout

UFC 312's main card opener saw Jake Matthews produce an impressive showing to clearly outpoint young gun Francisco Prado.

Despite the lack of finish, the welterweight bout was fun to watch, with Prado trying his best only to consistently eat better counters from 'The Celtic Kid', who was the far better boxer.

It's quite fascinating to see Matthews in the role of the grizzled veteran gatekeeper at this stage. After all, 'The Celtic Kid' debuted in the octagon back in the summer of 2014 before he'd even turned 20 years old.

This win, though, was very important for the Aussie. Had he fallen to defeat, he'd have been on a run of 1-2 in his last three fights and could well have been cut from his contract.

Thanks to this victory, though, he's now riding two wins in a row, and could well position himself as the division's new primary gatekeeper. That certainly seemed to be on his mind with his post-fight call-out of Neil Magny.

Basically, 'The Celtic Kid' now just needs to stay healthy and commit to a stronger schedule than fighting once a year, which he's been doing recently. If he can do that, then his future remains bright. For now, then, he's definitely one of the weekend's winners.

---

#2. Dricus du Plessis - defended the UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland

It's safe to say that UFC 312's headline bout was underwhelming. Despite this, though, it's still fair to label Dricus du Plessis one of the night's big winners.

Not only did 'Stillknocks' retain his middleweight title, defending it successfully for the second time, but he also closed the door on his rivalry with former champ Sean Strickland.

There were some questions around du Plessis' credibility as champ due to the fact that many fans felt Strickland had done enough to win their first fight. That wasn't the case here.

Not only did 'Tarzan' do very little throughout the bout, but du Plessis clearly outlanded him and even broke his nose in the fourth round, although he was unable to secure a finish.

Overall, though, there can now be no questions around the validity of 'Stillknocks' as a champion. More to the point, Strickland is the only opponent who's been able to drag du Plessis into anything but a thriller.

Given that he will now - hopefully - not have to fight 'Tarzan' again, du Plessis should be considered a huge winner, even if he's now got to face Khamzat Chimaev next!

---

#1. Weili Zhang - defended the UFC strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez

The biggest winner at UFC 312 was almost certainly strawweight champion Weili Zhang.

Not only did she absolutely dominate a previously unbeaten fighter who was considered a stylistically difficult match for her, but she also did so despite coming in as a betting underdog.

Tatiana Suarez's wrestling and submission game was supposed to be the key to breaking 'Magnum', but instead, Zhang managed to outgrapple the TUF 23 winner and even took her down on numerous occasions.

With this win, it's probably fair to label Zhang the best 115 pounder the UFC has ever seen. She's outgrappled Suarez, she outstruck Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and - losses to Rose Namajunas aside - she's dominated most of her foes.

'Magnum' has now reached that point where it's hard to find an opponent for her that could even be considered a test, and very few UFC champions reach that kind of spot.

Given that strawweight isn't really a thin division, it's hard to play down the accomplishments of the Chinese star. Overall, then, Zhang was definitely the weekend's biggest winner.