Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC 312

UFC 312 went down last night (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025) from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. In the main event of the evening, Dricus du Plessis bludgeoned Sean Strickland for a second time, winning a unanimous decision after 25 minutes of action (see it again here). In the co-headlining feature, Zhang Weili defended her women’s Strawweight, defeating Tatiana Suarez via unanimous decision.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Winner: Zhang Weili

“Magnum” gets the spot over headliner du Plessis because her title defense was a bit more dominant (not taking anything away from DDP’s awesome win) against a contender who was a betting favorite coming into the 115-pound showdown. But, Zhang proved once again the reason(s) she is the champion by absolutely controlling the fight en route to earning a clear-cut unanimous decision win. Aside from handing Suarez her first-ever defeat, she collected her fifth straight win and third consecutive title defense, cementing her stock among the best female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters on the planet.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Runner (s) Up: Tallison Teixeira, Quillan Salkilld

It was a big night for two newcomers, as Teixeira and Salkilld kicked off their UFC careers with electric performances. Salkilld sparked the event in the opening fight of the night, obliterating Anshul Jubli in just 19 seconds (see it again here), improving his record to 8-1. Not to be outdone. Teixeira made the most of his showcase opportunity on a major pay-per-view (PPV) main card, icing Justin Tafa with a huge standing elbow to end his night in just 35 seconds (replay). With their respective performances, Teixeira and Salkilld announced their arrivals and put future opponents on notice. In the process, they each pocketed $50,000 post-fight bonus awards, too.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Loser: Sean Strickland

Most didn’t feel Strickland had done enough to get a rematch against du Plessis after just one win removed from his initial loss to him, but getting another title fight will be near-impossible after UFC 312. That’s because “DDP” now has two wins over “Tarzan.” And even if the 185-pound title changes hands, Strickland — whose offensive output was bunk in the rematch — will have to string together two or three impressive wins if he wants to get back to the big dance, which isn’t an easy thing to do in the highly-competitive Middleweight division.

For complete UFC 312 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.

This news first appeared on MMA Mania. Read the original article.