UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland Card, Date, Time, Venue

UFC 312 PPV event took place on February 8, 2025(February 9 in Australia) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland was the main event bout.

The event started at 6:30 PM ET(10:30 AM Local) with an early prelims card which streamed on ESPN Plus Streaming, to be followed by prelims card at 8 PM ET(12 PM Local) and main card at 10 PM ET(2 PM Local).

FIGHT CARD

EARLY PRELIMS

Quillan Salkilld vs Anshul Jubli – Lightweight Bout
Winner: Quillan Salkilld won via TKO (punches) at 0:19 of Round 1
Jonathan Micallef vs Kevin Jousset – Welterweight Bout
Winner: Jonathan Micallef won via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kody Steele vs Rongzhu – Lightweight Bout
Winner: Rongzhu won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMS

Aleksandre Topuria vs Colby Thicknesse – Bantamweight Bout
Winner: Aleksandre Topuria won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Wang Cong vs Bruna Brasil – Women’s Flyweight Bout
Winner: Wang Cong won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27,30-27)
Tom Nolan vs Viacheslav Borshchev – Lightweight Bout
Winner: Tom Nolan won via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jack Jenkins vs Gabriel Santos – Featherweight Bout
Winner: Gabriel Santos won via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:06 of Round 3

MAIN CARD

Jake Matthews vs Francisco Prado – Welterweight Bout
Winner: Jake Matthews won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jimmy Crute vs Rodolfo Bellato – Light Heavyweight Bout
Winner: Ended in a majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-27)
Justin Tafa vs Tallison Teixeira – Heavyweight Bout
Winner: Tallison Teixeira won via TKO (elbow) at 0:35 of round 1
Co-Main Event: Zhang Weili vs Tatiana Suarez – UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship Bout
Winner: Zhang Weili won via unanimous decision(49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
Main Event: Dricus du Plessis vs Sean Strickland – UFC Middleweight Championship Bout
Winner: Dricus Du Plessis won via unanimous decision(50-45, 50-45 49-46)

CANCELLED BOUTS

Rei Tsuruya vs Stewart Nicoll – Nicoll pulled out due to injury
Jimmy Crute vs Marcin Prachnio – Prachnio pulled out due to unknown reason
Park Hyun-sung vs Nyamjargal Tumendemberel – Tumendemberel had issues during weight cut

NOTES

In October 2024, UFC confirmed their return to Sydney, Australia, with UFC 312 event. This was the second of the three events deal with New South Wales(Australia) Goverment.

In December 2024, UFC announced two title fights for the event. The main event was announced to be for UFC Middleweight Championship between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Du Plessis previously defeated Strickland to win the title at UFC 297 event.

The co-main event was announced to be the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship bout between Zhang Weili and Tatiana Suarez.

A light heavyweight bout between Jimmy Crute and Marcin Prachnio was announced for this event. But, Prachnio pulled out of the fight with unknown reasons. Rodolfo Bellato came in as his replacement.

A flyweight bout between Rei Tsuruya and Stewart Nicoll was scheduled for the event. Nicoll had to pull out of the bout due to an injury.

Aleksandre Topuria was set for his UFC debut against Cody Haddon in a bantamweight bout. But, Haddon withdrew from the fight due to an injury. Colby Thicknesse then came in as a replacement to make his UFC debut.

Park Hyun-sung and Nyamjargal Tumendemberel were set for a flyweight bout, but Tumendemberel had issues during weight cut and the bout had to be canceled.

Debuts – Jonathan Micallef, Kody Steele, Aleksandre Topuria, Quillan Salkilld