UFC 312: Three Under the Radar Fights

We are days away from UFC 312, which goes down from Sydney, Australia. The main event features a pivotal title fight in the middleweight division, as champ Dricus Du Plessis faces off against former champ Sean Strickland in rematch for the ages.

The card features another title fight in the co-main event, as Zhang Weili puts her strawweight championship on the line against Tatian Suarez.

Other than the two title fights, the thirteen fight card is definitely not the most stacked, however there are some under the radar fights for fans to sink their teeth into. And below we will go over three of those under the radar fights.

UFC 312: Three Under the Radar Fights

1. Kody Steele vs. Rongzhu

Undefeated prospect and jiu-jitsu ace Kody Steele will make his promotional debut after getting signed on Dana White’s Contender Series in October of last year. The 29-year-old wowed the UFC president with a second-round body shot finish against Chasen Blair. He is riding a 7-fight unbeaten streak coming into this debut and is a -245 favorite against his opponent Rongzhu. The Chinese fighter may only be 24-years-old, but has a very impressive resume, with 25 victories and only six defeats. He lost his most recent bout via doctors stoppage against Chris Padilla in September of 2024. Rongzhu is 1-3 under the UFC banner, however, has fought with Road to UFC and went undefeated with three victories on that stint. This fight is guaranteed to be fireworks and one for fans to be excited to watch.

2. Aleksandre Topuria vs. Colby Thicknesse

Brother of UFC champ and one of the best pound for pound fighters, Ilia Topuria, Aleksandre will make his Octagon debut at UFC 312. He was expected to take on Cody Haddon, but that bout fell through and will now face undefeated prospect Colby Thicknesse. Topouria is riding a three-fight winning streak, but has not been inside the cage since his first round stoppage victory against Johan Segas in 2023. At the media day, Thicknesse stated, “He’s definitely got the same sort of style because they train together, but he’s not his brother, and I’m going to go out there on (Saturday) and show it.” This statement in itself intrigues me. That along with the fact that we are getting to see the brother of Ilia step inside the Octagon.

3. Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos

This bout between Jenkins and Santos will serve as the featured prelim before the PPV kicks off for UFC 312 and should be an electric way to transition into that portion of the card. Jenkins brings a spark to the Octagon and we’ve seen that in every one of his outings. He got signed in 2022 when he defeated Freddy Linares on Dana White’s Contender series and has since gone 3-1 in the UFC. Most recently he stopped Herbert Burns 48-seconds into the third round of their fight last August. His opponent Santos on the other hand, started off slow in his UFC career, losing his first two fights, but earned a unanimous decision against Yizha in September 2024 to put him back in the win column. The former LFA champion will look to make it two in a row, as will Jenkins.

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UFC 312 goes down Saturday, February 8 from the Qudos Bank Arena. Fans can watch the event on PPV or on ESPN+.

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