UFC 312 proved to be a feeding ground for some thorough beatings in Sydney, Australia. A pair of champions dished out some brutal beatings on title challengers to retain in impressive showings. Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis turned away former titleholder Sean Strickland in emphatic fashion while women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili battered Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event.
Du Plessis handled anything Strickland threw at him and forced the American to be very tentative in coming forward. In Round 4, du Plessis broke through — literally — when he landed a strong right hand on Strickland’s nose that busted it wide open. Strickland did his best to continue through the rest of the fight, but he just could not put anything together offensively to solve the puzzle du Plessis poses.
Meanwhile, Zhang did much of the same to her latest title challenger. Zhang survived a first-round takedown from Suarez as the American was not able to do much of anything with it. From there, the champion put on a masterful striking display as her speed proved to be way too much for Suarez to handle and react to. Zhang even threw in a late takedown in Round 4 for good measure as her full skill set was on display throughout the 25 minutes where she even threatened a late submission on the grappling specialist.
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UFC 312 fight card, odds
- Dricus du Plessis (c) def Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Zhang Weili (c) def. Tatiana Suarez via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
- Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa via first-round knockout (elbow, punches)
- Rodolfo Bellato vs. Jimmy Crute ends in majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-27)
- Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins via third-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Tom Nolan def. Viacheslav Borshchev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Wang Cong def. Bruna Brasil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aleksandre Topuria def. Colby Thicknesse via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rongzhu def. Kody Steele via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jonathan Micallef def. Kevin Jousset via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli via first-round knockout (punch)
UFC 312 countdown
- Staff predictions and expert picks for the main card
- Campbell: Suarez can erase ‘what if’ stigma’ with win this weekend
- Brookhouse: Best bets to consider on Saturday
- Du Plessis believe he can ‘absolutely’ take don Khamzat Chimaev
- Mahjouri: Undercard fights to watch this weekend
- Campbell: Five biggest storylines to watch in Australia
