Preview: Two Championships Will be Defended at UFC 312 in Australia
The UFC will return to Australia this weekend for UFC 312 in Sydney. The octagon is seeing a lot of gold to start off 2025 as two more championships will be defended in the headliners of this pay-per-view event. In addition, some vary popular fighters will look to put on a show for the Aussie crowd.
The second chapter in a heated rivalry will be written when the middleweight crown is on the line in the main event on Saturday. Plus, the women’s strawweight championship will be up for grabs as a very interesting challenger steps up and two heavyweights will try to impress to vault themselves into the rankings.
Heavyweight bout: Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira
Talk about a banger. These two guys have 14 wins between them and 13 of them have come by way of knockout. Safe to say, this is going to be a standup battle. Justin Tafa comes in with a 7-4 record, with all seven wins by knockout. He is a big man with very heavy hands and a very clear gameplan: to stand and bang. I would expect nothing more than Tafa walking to the center of the octagon and throwing hands.
The younger Tallison Teixeira can do the same. He comes into this meeting with a perfect 7-0 record and six knockouts. Standing at 6’7", Teixeira’s length can be a problem for a lot of fighters, and Tafa figures to be no exception as he will be giving up seven inches to his opponent. This will also be the UFC debut for Teixeira, who has never seen a second round in his pro career. Teixeira is likely going to look to either stay on the outside and utilize that length, or perhaps even look to grapple. The one thing he does not want to do is stand in the pocket and trade punches with Tafa.
My pick: Teixeira via 1st round knockout
Women’s Strawweight Championship bout: Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a challenger this interesting for Zhang Weili. Tatiana Suarez comes into this championship opportunity with a perfect 10-0 record and five submissions. She has wins over big names like Alexa Grasso and Carla Esparza and is most recently coming off of a submission win over Jessica Andrade. Perhaps the most interesting number though, is her current -122 betting odds for this bout, making her the betting favorite as the challenger. Suarez can finish fights in a lot of ways and she poses the most significant threat to Weili’s title reign in some time.
However, Weili is still the champ for a reason. She comes into this bout with a 25-3 record and riding a four-fight winning streak, during which she has looked dominant. The champ has proven again and again to simply be in another class as far as grappling is concerned, while still possessing the punching power to put her opponents down in a blink. Stylistically, this is a very interesting matchup because both fighters can win in a lot of different ways. It will be interesting to see what kind of gameplan the champ employs for this defense.
My pick: Weili via decision
Middleweight Championship bout: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland
The UFC’s middleweight division has been one of the most wide open in recent years. However, a rivalry has emerged atop that division as current champion Dricus De Plessis and former champion Sean Strickland are at each other’s throats every chance they get. Now, they will meet for the second time to see who gets to bring the gold home.
Strickland had a short-lived title reign from 2023-24, dropping the belt in his first defense, a meeting with Du Plessis in January of last year. Before that fight, the two had a scuffle in the crowd of another UFC event and have not been shy about their feelings toward one another ever since. After losing his belt, Strickland won a split decision over Paulo Costa to earn himself a rematch with the champ. Coming into this main event with a 29-6 record and 11 knockouts, Strickland is as tough and scrappy as they come. He has very good hands and a well-rounded grappling game, but his greatest weapon is his tenacity. Look for the challenger to bring the fight and be in the champ’s face all night long.
Of course, the confidence certainly has to be in the corner of the Du Plessis, who has already defeated Strickland once. The champ comes in with a 22-2 record with nine knockouts and 11 submissions. Most recently, he submitted former champion Israel Adesanya in his first championship defense. Du Plessis has been impressive for some time now and yet he still manages to get better every time we see him. In his last five fights, only Strickland has managed to make it to the final bell and avoid being finished by the current champ. Now the question is, does Strickland know something others don’? Or will the Du Plessis continue to improve his game?
My pick: Du Plessis via decision
UFC 312 will be held Saturday, February 8 at 10 PM ET. ESPN+ subscribers can order the pay per view for $79.99.