UFC 312: Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2: Full results

UFC 312 is in the books. The second pay-per-view event of the year took place at the Qudos Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 9. It featured 12 fights across nine weight classes, including two title fights at the top of the card. The event marked the promotion's first visit to the city since UFC 293 in September 2023. This article recaps the fights and explores UFC 312 full results.

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Main event - Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland

In the main event, Dricus du Plessis attempted his second middleweight title defense against Sean Strickland. The two had previously faced each other at UFC 297, where du Plessis won by split decision to capture the 185-pound title.

Both men entered the fight determined to secure a decisive victory, and the potential adjustments from both sides were a significant storyline leading up to the fight.

Strickland began the fight by sticking to solid fundamentals and fighting behind his jab. In contrast, du Plessis focused heavily on delivering kicks to the head, body, and legs, occasionally mixing in flurries of punches.

While Strickland landed a few effective combinations, du Plessis was the more active fighter throughout the match. His kicks played a crucial role in his strategy, as they led to incremental success as the rounds continued.

As the strike count continued to rise for du Plessis, Strickland's corner encouraged him to become more active. However, a powerful right hand from the champion seemed to break Strickland's nose, causing profuse bleeding. Strickland retreated to avoid further injury, while the champion landed punches with increasing accuracy, closing out Round 4 on a high note.

Strickland was unable to follow his corner's instructions to increase his activity level and had difficulty matching du Plessis' output. The champion controlled the pace in the final round, achieving a clear unanimous decision victory.

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Co-main event - Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez

In the co-main event, strawweight champion Zhang Weili faced wrestling powerhouse Tatiana Suarez in what many considered the biggest challenge of her title reign.

Suarez was returning to competition after an 18-month layoff and secured an early takedown, controlling the champion on the ground. However, midway through Round 1, she gave top position to the champion when she attempted a guillotine choke after they stood back up.

From that point onward, Weili took control of the fight, showcasing her striking skills and proving to be superior in grappling as well. Despite being stunned by Weili's strikes and enduring several submission attempts, Suarez maintained her composure throughout the fight. However, she struggled to counter Weili's well-rounded skill set.

After five rounds of action where Weili dictated the pace and controlled the fight, she was declared the winner by unanimous decision. With this victory, Weili has now tied the record for most title fight victories (six) in the UFC strawweight division, alongside former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

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UFC 312: Main card results

Tallison Teixeira, a graduate of Dana White's Contender Series, made his UFC debut against Justin Tafa on the main card. Entering the fight as an undefeated fighter, Teixeira had momentum on his side, while Tafa was returning to competition after suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Karl Williams in March 2024.

During the fight, Tafa found himself outsized and outmatched by the towering Brazilian. Teixeira knocked Tafa down with a short elbow during a clinch exchange against the cage and followed up with several strikes. Tafa was unable to defend himself. This prompted the referee to intervene and stop the action. The fight ended at the 0:35 mark of Round 1, and Teixeira was declared the winner by TKO.

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Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato

Australia's Jimmy Crute, who had struggled in his professional MMA career in recent years, faced former LFA light heavyweight champion Rodolfo Bellato on the main card. Having last won a fight in October 2020, Crute was in desperate need of a victory. He started strong, dominating Bellato in both grappling and striking in the opening round.

As Bellato seemed to be getting outclassed and appeared just a few combinations away from being finished, Crute started fading, allowing the Brazilian to make the fight competitive. Although Crute found a second wind and rallied in the closing minutes, the judges ultimately scored the fight a draw.

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Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado

In the main card opening bout, local favorite Jake Matthews faced Argentina's Francisco Prado in a welterweight bout.

Prado pressed the action early, trying to minimize Matthews' height and reach advantage. However, the Argentine fighter struggled with Matthews' speed. 'The Celtic Kid' consistently landed the bigger shots and put together effective combinations to cruise to a unanimous decision victory.

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UFC 312: Preliminary card results

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Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos

In the headlining bout of the preliminary card, featherweight Jack Jenkins faced Gabriel Santos, a teammate of Charles Oliveira.

After a brief feeling-out process, Jenkins landed a head kick that dropped Santos and followed up with strikes. However, Santos quickly recovered, attempted tight submissions, and managed to return to his feet. He then secured a takedown, controlling the remainder of the round from the top position.

After exchanging heavy blows in the opening minutes of Round 2, Santos secured a takedown and maintained control until the round concluded. The Brazilian stunned Jenkins with a front kick to the face in the opening seconds of Round 3 and took his back against the cage. After absorbing a few strikes, Jenkins exposed his neck, and Santos forced him to tap out to a rear-naked choke.

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Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

Australia's Tom Nolan faced Team Alpha Male's Viacheslav Borshchev to extend his win streak to three. Nolan effectively used his height and reach advantage, keeping Borshchev at bay with diverse attacks. Although both fighters landed clean strikes, Nolan’s punches had a more noticeable impact.

In the final round, he increased his offense but ended up on his back a few times. Despite this, he delivered significant shots, opening a cut on Borshchev while landing several stunning up kicks from the bottom. The judges scored the contest in Nolan's favor, declaring him the winner by unanimous decision.

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Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil

Bruna Brasil faced China's Wang Cong in the women's flyweight division. Brasil began strong with low kicks, but Cong maintained her composure and gained momentum with powerful strikes, especially after the midway point.

Brasil struggled to find her rhythm, while Cong intensified her efforts. She capped her dominant performance with a takedown in the closing seconds, winning by unanimous decision.

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Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria

In the preliminary card opening bout, featherweight champion Ilia Topuria's elder brother, Aleksandre Topuria, made his highly anticipated UFC debut against Colby Thicknesse, a teammate of Alexander Volkanovski.

In the fight, Thicknesse focused on his kicking, while Topuria advanced with powerful striking. He landed several significant shots to both the head and body when pressing Thicknesse against the cage. Topuria also showcased his grappling skills, winning most exchanges and securing a unanimous decision victory.

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UFC 312: Early prelims results

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Rong Zhu and Kody Steele

Rong Zhu and Kody Steele presented a three-round war in the early prelims headlining bout. While Steele held his own in the early going, Zhu slowly took over, landing the bigger strikes and winning most of the exchanges for the rest of the fight. He also scored the only knockdown of the fight, winning the bout by unanimous decision.

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Jonathan Micallef vs. Kevin Jousset

'Dana White's Contender Series' standout Jonathan Micallef made a successful promotional debut with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Jousset. Micallef outstruck Jousset 85-67 in significant strikes. He also scored the only knockdown of the fight when he dropped Jousset with a head kick in Round 1.

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Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli

In the first fight of the night, Quillan Salkilld knocked Anshul Jubli down with an overhand right when they met in the center. The referee stopped the action as Salkilld followed up with a couple of more shots. The end came in at the 0:19-second mark. However, Jubli protested the stoppage, and social media reactions suggested that many fans agreed with him.

Check out the UFC 312 full results below:

Main card

Main event: Middleweight title fight - Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland by unanimous decision (50-45 X 2, 49-46)

Co-main event: Strawweight title fight - Zhang Weili def. Tatiana Suarez by unanimous decision (49-46 X 2, 49-45)

Heavyweight - Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa by T/KO (R1, 0:35)

Light heavyweight - Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato ends in majority draw (29-27, 28-28 X 2)

Welterweight - Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)

Preliminary card

Featherweight - Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins by submission (Rear-naked choke) (R3, 2:06)

Lightweight - Tom Nolan def. Viacheslav Borshchev by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 X 2)

Women's flyweight - Wang Cong def. Bruna Brasil by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)

Bantamweight - Aleksandre Topuria def. Colby Thicknesse by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)

Early prelims

Lightweight - Rong Zhu def. Kody Steele by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)

Welterweight - Jonathan Micallef def. Kevin Jousset by unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)

Lightweight - Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli by T/KO (R1, 0:19)