Quick results
Main Card (10 p.m. ET) (PPV)
- Dricus Du Plessis def. Sean Strickland via Decision, Unanimous(UFC Middleweight Championship)
- Zhang Weili def. Tatiana Suarez via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Strawweight Championship)
- Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:35)
- Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato via Decision, Majority Draw
- Jake Matthews def. Francisco Prado via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET) (ESPN2 / ESPN+ / Disney+)
- Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 2:06)
- Tom Nolan def. Viacheslav Borshchev via Decision, Unanimous
- Wang Cong def. Bruna Brasil via Decision, Unanimous
- Aleksandre Topuria def. Colby Thicknesse via Decision, Unanimous
Early Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET) (ESPN+ / Disney+ / UFC Fight Pass)
- Rongzhu def. Kody Steele via Decision, Unanimous
- Jonathan Micallef def. Kevin Jousset via Decision, Unanimous
- Quillan Salkilld def. Anshul Jubli via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:19)
Dricus Du Plessis nearly sweeps scorecards against Sean Strickland to retain middleweight title in rematch
Dricus Du Plessis provided a much more conclusive sequel to his 2024 encounter against Sean Strickland, leaving no room for scorecard debate after five rounds at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia with the UFC Middleweight Championship on the line.
Du Plessis put together an incredibly dominant showing against former champ Strickland, allowing him to prevail with a nearly perfect unanimous decision result (50-45, 50-45 & 49-46).
The varied stand-up style of Du Plessis gave him an advantage over Strickland throughout the fight. While throwing his usual wailing hooks to the head, the South African also went after the body and legs of Strickland, throwing punches to the gut and kicks to the thighs.
Strickland fell back on his usual jab-heavy boxing style through five rounds, allowing him to connect at times but also providing few pronounced moments for judges to weigh when tabulating scorecards.
Du Plessis, meanwhile, had many instances where a big shot landed clean, including a head kick early in the fight, a spinning backfist, and a spinning elbow in the third round.
The biggest moment of the fight emerged in the fourth frame, when a right hand from the champ split open the nose of Strickland and caused a significant amount of blood to gush from the challenger.
Coach Eric Nicksick urged Strickland before the championship rounds that he was “gonna have to start opening up.” However, nothing he attempted late in the fight did enough to get him back into the bout.
“I told you guys when I come in here I try to knock this man out … I gave it my all,” Du Plessis said afterward, speaking to the durability of Strickland. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get him out of here.”
Du Plessis’ win on Saturday closes out his rivalry with Strickland, at least for the time being.
The duo first met at UFC 297 early last year, where they battled to an incredibly close split decision result after five rounds on the feet. The competitive nature of their first clash – which saw Du Plessis win by just a one-round margin on two of the three scorecards – justified a second meeting between the two.
Strickland found his way back to Du Plessis after going five rounds against Paulo Costa last year, putting him back into the win column with a comfortable scorecard result. Around that same time, Du Plessis took down future UFC Hall of Famer Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission win to defend his belt for the first time.
After spending the first three fights of his title run facing talent who had already fought at the championship level, Du Plessis will now look toward contenders who are reaching the top for the first time. The two frontrunners for his next matchup currently are undefeated Khamzat Chimaev and fast-rising Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov.
Zhang Weili shuts down wrestling of Tatiana Suarez to retain strawweight gold
UFC Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili passed what many expected to be one of her hardest tests yet with flying colors in the co-main event, putting together a dominant five-round performance against Tatiana Suarez to secure a unanimous decision win.
Zhang had control of the title fight both on the feet and on the mat against Suarez, making it a near one-sided performance for 20 minutes after a competitive opening round.
Suarez made it clear early that, predictably, her wrestling background would play a major role in the fight. She took Zhang to the mat in the opening moments of the bout, allowing her to spend minutes in control. Zhang, who remained active from the bottom with short punches, was able to escape eventually and make the round more competitive.
Capitalizing on a failed guillotine choke attempt from Suarez – which the challenger pulled guard while attempting – Zhang spent the final minute of the opening round landing punches from a top position.
Momentum shifted completely in the direction of Zhang by round two when it became clear that Suarez’s wrestling wouldn’t dictate how the fight went. The champ used Suarez’s wrestling against her, reversing a pair of takedown attempts to set up positions where she could score with hard ground and pound punches.
Zhang started to pull ahead on scorecards by the third round, keeping the fight on the feet and piecing Suarez up with punches. After five minutes at the stand-up range, a trip takedown early in the fourth allowed Zhang to further control Suarez for nearly an entire round.
Ahead comfortably by three rounds, Zhang spent the first half of round five punishing takedown attempts from Suarez with strikes on the feet. Wrapping up what had become a well-rounded showcase for Zhang, she spent the final minutes of the fight in top control.
With the scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 49-45, Zhang comfortably pushed her strawweight reign past a third appearance as champ.
Many expected Zhang to have a tough outing against Suarez this weekend. While many title fights in recent years saw her enter as a sizeable favorite, sportsbooks showed her as a slight underdog for this weekend’s co-main event.
Zhang has kept hold of UFC’s 115-pound title since 2022 when she dethroned Carla Esparza to become a two-time champ. Previous appearances in her reign were similarly dominant, going the distance against Yan Xiaonan and Amanda Lemos in recent years.
Since winning The Ultimate Fighter season 23 in 2016, many have considered Suarez a future title challenger. While a long list of injuries have caused many delays in her career – including nearly four years out of the cage from 2019 to 2023 – she came into this weekend with a strong undefeated record including wins over former champs Jessica Andrade and Alexa Grasso.
Tallison Teixeira wins UFC debut in just 35 seconds
Tallison Teixeira made a splash in his first-ever UFC appearance.
The undefeated heavyweight prospect stopped Justin Tafa in just 35 seconds, putting him away with a slick combination of strikes.
After driving in for a takedown, Teixeira strung together a two-strike combination from the clinch which quickly put Tafa on the mat. The lanky six-foot-seven 25-year-old first went to the body with a knee, then floored Tafa with a hard elbow to the head.
The referee was quick to step in following Teixeira’s elbow, stepping in as he scored with follow-up ground and pound.
Quick nights at the office are nothing new for Teixeira, who has never escaped the first round since his 2021 pro debut. His appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024 was just slightly longer than his win on Saturday, knocking out Arthur Lopes with a right hand in a little under two minutes.
Tafa was hoping Saturday’s matchup would put him back to his winning ways after a decision loss against Karl Williams last year. He had his best UFC run yet before then, stringing together a trio of first-round finishes from 2021 to 2023.
Jimmy Crute, Rodolfo Bellato end with rare majority draw result
Jimmy Crute didn’t walk away with a long-awaited victory this weekend, but he at least didn’t add another loss to his record.
Crute settled with a majority draw decision after three rounds against Rodolfo Bellato on Saturday night, keeping the Australian talent from attaining his first MMA win in nearly five years. The rare MMA outcome emerged due to Bellato mounting a comeback against Crute following a 10-8 opening round.
Crute opened with a highly dominant opening round, a performance which suggested the entire could be one-way traffic. He reversed a takedown attempt from Bellato early to gain top control, using the position to land ground and pound shots and search for submissions for most of the round. He later marched down Bellato when the fight went back to the feet, out-landing him by 47 significant strikes, per official UFC statistics.
However, after a strong opening five minutes from Crute, the fight started to tip in favor of Bellato. Cardio became a significant issue for Crute, allowing Bellato to start showing off his own striking. Bellato began connecting with his boxing and mixing in kicks to the legs of Crute, putting him in trouble at points.
With the score of 27-27 on a pair of the three official scorecards, neither light heavyweight left Sydney with another win under their belt.
Crute was returning after year-and-a-half out of the cage, aiming for his first win since 2020. A run of three previous losses and another draw has prevented the UFC vet from getting into the win column in recent years.
Bellato was coming back after prevailing in his promotional debut last year, stopping Ihor Potieria with strikes.
Jake Matthews earns UFC win #14 against Francisco Prado
Jake Matthews welcomed Francisco Prado to the welterweight division in the opening fight of the evening, out-landing the Argentinian to secure his 14th win since joining the UFC more than a decade ago.
Matthews, who with 21 appearances has fought more times than any other UFC talent from Australia despite being just 30 years old, mainly used his boxing to out-land an under-sized Prado through 15 minutes.
Prado remained in the fight until the end and kept Matthews guessing with clinching and wrestling exchanges at points, although none of his attacks measured up to the Australian’s crisp boxing throughout.
Prado was moving up from lightweight after winning just one of his three past UFC appearances. His previous fight, a decision defeat against Daniel Zellhuber in early 2024, was given a “Fight of the Night” award.
Matthews, a fellow former lightweight, has now pieced together a two-fight winning streak for the first time since 2020. His previous appearance was a decision win over Phil Rose at UFC 302.
Afterward, Matthews called for a fight against fellow veteran Neil Magny.
Prelim results: Gabriel Santos rallies back, Aleksandre Topuria wins UFC debut
Gabriel Santos staged an impressive comeback performance in the featured prelim of the night, recovering from a scary opening moment against Jack Jenkins to later secure a submission victory. While it looked concerning for Santos in the opening round – getting dropped by a flush head kick just two minutes into the bout – the Brazilian was able to utilize crafty striking and superior grappling skills to get back in control of the bout. After rocking Australia’s Jenkins with a front kick in the third round, Santos got on his back for a rear naked choke finish. The former LFA champ has now evened his UFC record at two wins and two losses.
Tom Nolan moved his UFC win streak to three in a row on Saturday night, putting together a solid three-round outing against Viacheslav Borshchev. While Borshchev kept the fight highly competitive, Nolan connected with the better strikes during stand-up exchanges to earn as many as all three rounds on some scorecards. He also proved to be the more effective fighter when the bout hit the canvas in rounds one and three, searching for submissions and doing damage with hammerfists and elbows. All three of Nolan’s wins have come within a period of just 10 months.
Wang Cong returned to the win column on Saturday night, cruising to a unanimous decision win against Bruna Brasil. Flyweight Brasil struggled greatly with the pressure of Wang on the feet, with the Chinese kickboxer chasing her down throughout the bout and producing a higher volume of strikes through punches and loads of leg kicks. Wang was coming back after a shocker first pro loss last year against Gabriella Fernandes last year. Brasil’s UFC record has fallen to two wins and three losses.
Aleksandre Topuria, the brother of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, got past short-notice opponent Colby Thicknesse to prevail in his first appearance for the promotion. Topuria, who had little visibility in the sport prior to this weekend, showcased a strong variety of striking and wrestling skills through 15 minutes, stinging Thicknesse with his punches and dropping him on hard his head with a suplex at one point. The UFC now has another brother due in its history.
Rongzhu survived a hectic three-round brawl against promotional newcomer Kody Steele to take the scorecard nod on Saturday’s prelims. The Chinese MMA vet – who now reps prominent New Zealand gym City Kickboxing – scored the bigger shots in a high-damage stand-up slug-fest. While Steele connected with the first big punch of the fight and continued to score with hard shots later on, Rongzhu tested his toughness by out-landing him through all 15 minutes. Rongzhu, who battled his way back onto the promotion’s roster by winning Road To UFC last year, now has his first victory in the promotion since his initial run with the company in 2021. 29-year-old Steele had his seven-fight undefeated record brought to a halt due to the result.
Jonathan Micallef started his UFC career with a solid three-round stand-up outing against Kevin Jousset, out-working him for a decision win. Micallef’s kicks were a highlight of his performance, consistently landing forcefully on Jousset and causing an early knockdown of the Frenchman. Jousset had his own moments, marking up the face of Micallef with his own shots, but struggled to match the output or accuracy of the UFC newcomer. Sydney’s Micallef was making his UFC after a quick win on the Contender Series last fall. Jousset is now on a two-fight skid.
Quillan Salkilld, the first of eight fighters representing Australia on Saturday’s card, kicked off the night with a lightning-quick 19-second win. The lightweight UFC newcomer cracked Anshul Jubli with a hard overhand just moments into the fight, causing the referee to step in. The stoppage was protested by Jubli, who made it clear he disagreed with the referee’s decision. Salkilld was stepping into the UFC cage just over five months after earning a contract with the promotion through Dana White’s Contender Series. India’s Jubli has now suffered back-to-back finish losses in the UFC cage.
