UFC 312 collection restaurants: du plessis-chimaev Next? Zhang should make a movement … Up

Dricus du Plying did it again, defeated Sean Strickland a second time, but this time he dominated To keep its middleweight championship On UFC 312 in Qdos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday.

Du Plessis is 9-0 in the UFC and has not lost any fight since October 2018. But if he wants to become one of the best hunters in the history of the 185-pound division, he has to do work. He will get a bigger challenge next time if, as expected, Khamzat Chimaev Gets the next title shot.

In the Co-Main event, Zhang Weili dominated Tatiana Suarez To maintain her straw weight championship. Zhang looks unbeatable And has almost cleared the division. Can a step to flying weight chase a title in a second division in its nearby future?

And what started as a great evening for local hunters on the map with a TKO victory of 19 seconds for Quillan Salkilldended with a disappointing version of the other seven hunters from Oceania on the map.

Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Sam Bruce offer their take -away restaurants from the two title fights and the rest of the Australia card.

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Du Plessis is an early candidate for Fighter of the Year

At first glance, this may seem like a lazy, obvious take -away meals. But there is more than that. I only understand that because Du Plessis won convincingly at UFC 312, which does not make him a favorite for Fighter of the Year. In fact, this fight in itself really does not do much to secure that price. He already had a victory over Strickland and many expected him to get another one.

The reason he could be a strong candidate is how 2025 could fall into place for Du Plessis. By leaving this matchup behind, he sets the table for a potential defending defense against Chimaev, in what could be one of the greatest fighting of the year. And if Du Plessis wins, there is a real possibility that he can be a top five pound-for-pound hunter and top five in popularity. And what then? Alex Pereira With light heavyweight? It is certainly whole, very possible. Du Plessis took the opportunity to publish something of a challenge in the direction of Pereira after Saturday’s victory. And all parties can be before that fight.

The icing on the top would be to have him fight in South Africa at the end of 2025. The chance that it happened on the low side. The logistics of pulling out a show in Africa, when the UFC usually has its selection framework at the end of the year in New York and Las Vegas, it always makes it a long recording. But the UFC and Du Plessis have spoken a lot about trying to get there.

Du Plessis could fight three times this year, and the idea that he is beating hunters such as Chimaev and Pereira does not seem far -fetched. The sport slept on him for a while, but watching him smart fighting and performing in the Rematch against Strickland, in which it is shown how much he has improved in the past year, it makes it difficult to overlook him. – Okamoto

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It’s time for Zhang to go up, try to try to become a second division champion

Tatiana Suarez was expected to be a difficult challenge for stromal weight champion Zhang Weili. Instead, Zhang put together a clinic in a dominant unanimous decision victory to defend her title for the third time during her second run as champion.

And now it’s time that Zhang rises in weight and tries to come Amanda Nunes As the only women who have titles in two weight classes. She would waste her time differently.

Outside Rose NamajunZhang had the opposition on Strawweight with victories over Yan Xiaonan” Amanda Lemos” Carla Esparza” Joanna Jedrzejczyk (twice), Jessica Andrade And now Suarez. And without a clear competition in sight, there is no better time for Zhang to make the movement to fly. Zhang would be closed immediately to stand in between the winner of the expected title fight Valentina Shevchenko And Manon Fior. Given the recent dominance of Zhang, it would be difficult for everyone to choose against her.

Zhang’s second run as a stream weight champion has been even more impressive than her first, and her resignation by Suarez has placed her square in the conversation as the greatest woman ever to compete on 115 pounds. Suarez came into the fight and as a highly decorated wrestler and was expected to use her ability to determine Zhang’s shoulders on the canvas. But after Suarez had secured a Takedown in the first minute, Zhang successfully defended the next 14 attempts by the challenger. Every time her Takedown attempt was torn off, the Suarez let out.

In the last two rounds it was clear that Zhang’s experience was too much for Suarez to overcome. Before this fight, Suarez had been dominant against the rest of the division, which rarely dropped a round and overwhelming the one who stood opposite her. But against Zhang, Suarez was in her head. She discovered the hard way in which Zhang is head and shoulders above the rest of the division.

Zhang who leaves for flying weight would open straw from the straw products for a new champion, and she would have the chance to become the biggest star in MMA for ladies. – Hale

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The Australian fans showed up; the fighting, not so much

This was not a map with the choice of talent from Australia and New Zealand. There was no important star power from the region. Yet the UFC was able to pull a crowd near the capacity in what was the second of a three -ferdments with the New South Wales government.

What local tourist operators – and more importantly, the fans – will exclaim for the next time, is a much better line -up of talent in the Achthoek and not in row 1 sitting, such as Alexander Volkanovski” Israel is the existence And Maddalena Jack All were. That was partly due to timing, planning and the nature of the UFC, with Della Maddalena and Kiwi Carlos Ulberg Next month in separate attacks in separate attacks, when the victories can protect title shots for each man in the event of good weight and light heavyweight respectively.

The best that the Oceania region could offer on UFC 312 was a 19 seconds KO from “Dana White’s Contender Series” graduated Quillan Salkilld, whose thumping right hand floor Anshul Jubli In the first fight of the day. The fans who still went their way to the arena were then denied all other real local highlights, although another graduate competitioner series, Jonathan Micallefthe victory came from an entertaining fight with Kevin’s ringsAnd Jake Matthews Finally strung back-to-back victories together.

But it was slim pickings for fighters from the region different, such as Jack Jenkins was submitted in round 3 and Jimmy Crute was assessed on a controversial majority Rodolfo Bellato.

UFC President Dana White has long been a fan of the Australian market, and there have been much stronger cards last year and in 2023, such as in Perth, and even the previous time -out in Sydney, where Strickland Adesanya made Van Streek. But the stars are simply not on a leash for UFC 312, and the locals will demand a map with a higher caliber the next time-out. – Bruce