UFC 312
Review
Twice And Still! in Sydney
DuPlessis remains undefeated
The South African once again confirms his champ status
Dricus Du Plessis has done it again! The South African champion defended his title and ended his feud with Sean Strickland – and quite impressively. The two fought a close battle in the first three rounds, but Du Plessis landed the harder shots and repeatedly put Strickland under pressure.
Then came the fourth round – and with it, arguably, the decisive moment: A clean right hook landed Strickland squarely, breaking his nose. Covered in blood, the American dragged himself back to his corner, but the damage had been done. In the final five minutes, Du Plessis controlled the action, continued scoring points, and ultimately secured a clear point victory.
With this triumph, "Stillknocks" remains undefeated in the UFC (9-0) and celebrates his eleventh consecutive victory – incredible! Now the big question is: Who's next? Khamzat Chimaev and Nassourdine Imavov are already lined up and could be the champion's next big challenge. It remains exciting!
Chinese dominance
Zhang Weili remains the measure of all things
Zhang Weili once again proved why she's the queen of the strawweight division! In a strong performance, she left Tatiana Suarez no chance, inflicting the first loss of her career.
Things weren't looking so clear at first: Suarez took Zhang to the ground and controlled the first round. But the champion wasn't fazed, finished the round in top position herself, and took control from there. Whether standing or grappling, Zhang was simply superior. She defended countless takedowns, scored with her own shots, and dominated with hard ground-and-pound.
That was an absolute statement performance! With her third title defense in her second reign, Zhang practically emptied the division. The question now is: Who can stop this woman? Her place in women's MMA history is already secured!
The rest of the main card featured a spectacular TKO victory by Tallison Texeira, who knocked out veteran Justin Tafa in the first round. This earned him the Performance of the Night bonus. Otherwise, there was a majority draw between local favorite Jimmy Crute and Rodolfo Bellato, and Jake Matthews won a unanimous decision against Francisco Prado. The remaining bonuses went to Ronghzu and Steele for Fight of the Night, and Quillan Salkilld, who earned the second Performance of the Night honor with a 19-second KO.
What happens next?
As already mentioned, Dricus Du Plessis only has two options: Khamzat Chimaev and Nassourdine Imavov. Chimaev likely has the better odds, so "Borz" could challenge for the middleweight title as early as the middle of this year.
Zhang Weili could face Virna Jandiroba or MacKenzie Dern, who defeated Amanda Ribas in January. However, the Chinese has long dominated her weight class, so she may be looking for a superstar fight at strawweight against Valentina Shevchenko.