LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 21: Dana White meets with the press after awarding new UFC contracts for … [+]
Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe UFC 312 pay-per-view card is pretty underwhelming. There are two UFC championship fights, which is always great, but on paper, neither is seemingly generating a ton of excitement for the February 8 card set for Sydney, Australia.
Per ESPNhere is a look at the bout order:
- (c) Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland – UFC Middleweight Championship (185 lbs)
- (c) Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez – UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship (115 lbs)
- Talisson Teixeira vs. Justin Tafa – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato – Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
- Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado – Welterweight (170 lbs)
- Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Cong Wang vs. Bruna Brasil – Flyweight (125 lbs)
- Alexander Topuria vs. Cooper Thicknesse – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Kevin Jousset vs. Jonathan Micallef – Welterweight (170 lbs)
- Kody Steele vs. Rongzhu – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Hyun Sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel – Flyweight (125 lbs)
In the main event, UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will defend his title against former champion Sean Strickland in a rematch of their January 2024 fight at UFC 297.
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 20: Sean Strickland of the United States fights against Dricus Du Plessis of … [+]
Getty ImagesDDP won the fight by split decision and captured the title. Since winning the title, DDP has successfully defended it with a submission win over Israel Adesanya in August 2024 at UFC 305.
Strickland did his part to earn a rematch, holding off the hard-charging Khamzat Chimaev with a split-decision win over Paulo Costa in June 2024 at UFC 302. Many fans are less than enthused about this matchup.
Even DDP admitted he’d rather fight Chimaev because he thought the fight would be more exciting. However, Strickland was promised the opportunity, and to the UFC’s credit, they are sticking with that promise.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – JUNE 12: Zhang Weili of China reacts after defeating Joanna Jedrzejcyk of … [+]
Getty ImagesIn the co-main event, Weili Zhang will defend her UFC women’s strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez. Weili is an outstanding fighter, and Suarez has long been tabbed as the competitor in the division who could potentially give the champion a tough fight.
However, there has been almost zero build for this fight, and it happens in less than two weeks. It is shaping up as a fight for purists and Chinese fans, who are extremely loyal to Weili as she has been a pioneer for her country in the mixed martial arts space.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 05: Tatiana Suarez poses for a portrait after her victory during the … [+]
Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesThat’s not ideal.
The two title fights aren’t the most questionable aspects of the card; it’s the rest of the PPV portion of the show. The main card is going to open with Matthews vs. Prado. Neither fighter is ranked or even close to gaining that distinction—no matter what happens in that fight.
The next fight has hometown favorite Crute against Bellato. Crute is an exciting fighter, and the crowd will be behind him, while Bellato may be close to a Top-15 ranking. However, this fight feels more like a featured prelim than the second fight on the PPV.
The Teixeira-Tafa fight could be great, but the former is making his main-roster debut following an impressive showing on Dana White’s Contender Series, and the latter is a KO artist with two major holes in his game: stamina and wrestling.
It’s another fight that feels more like a featured prelim. In all honesty, this card feels like a Fight Night event with two title fights to finish the evening.
In any case, I’ll be watching and have all the coverage.