Sleeper Fights You Don’t Want To Miss At UFC 312 This Weekend

Published by Paul Browne on February 6, 2025

UFC 312 Bouts That Are Flying Under The Radar

The second UFC pay-per-view event of 2025 is upon this weekend. Sydney, Australia plays host to the biggest show in combat sports and there are two world title fights at the top of the card for fans to get their teeth into.

Dricus Du Plessis and Zhang Weili look to defend their championship belts against Sean Strickland and Tatiana Suarez, and it’s on those four names where the bulk of the pre-fight conversation is focused, perhaps understandably given that the rest of the card is made up of unranked fighters.

The lineup has a very ‘throwaway’ feel to it, and the absence of ranked fighters from Australia or New Zealand such as Alexander Volkanovski, Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France, Jack Della Maddalena, Israel Adesany, Steve Erceg, Robert Whittaker or Tai Tuivasa has left fans scratching their heads.

Although the fight card may be lacking somewhat in star power, as always, there are still some fights that have the potential to catch us off guard and steal the show. Let’s pick out 3 matchups (outside of the title fights) that should be worth tuning into on Saturday.

Tallison Texeira vs. Justin Tafa (Heavyweight)

Slap-bang in the center of the main card sits a heavyweight matchup with massive ‘fight of the night’ potential attached to it. Tallison Texeira (7-0 MMA) makes his debut inside the Octagon following an impressive first-round KO victory over Arthur Lopes on the most recent season of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS).

The 6 foot 7 inch-tall Brazilian has finished every single opponent in his professional career to date inside the opening 5 minutes and will look to add Brisbane native Justin Tafa to that list.

Tafa (7-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has struggled to find consistency since signing with the UFC back in 2019, but all 4 of his victories inside the Octagon have come by way of first-round KO.

Somebody is going to sleep!

Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos (Featherweight)

Another prospect who punched his ticket to the big leagues via a win on DWCS, Australia’s Jack Jenkins (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will look to continue his impressive start to his UFC career when he takes on Gabriel Santos (11-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) during the prelims.

31-year-old Jenkins kicked off his UFC tenure in 2023 by picking up wins over Don Shainis and Jamall Emmers, before a nasty arm injury resulted in an unfortunate loss to Chepe Mariscal at UFC 293 in September of that year.

Jenkins bounced back impressively when he knocked out Herbert Burns in front of the Australian fans at UFC 305 last summer and he will hoping to give the home crowd something to cheer once again this weekend.

Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev (Lightweight)

Also on the prelims, two promising lightweights with knockout power in their hands go toe-to-toe. Brisbane’s Tom Nolan (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has looked very impressive inside the Octagon so far. The 24-year-old knocked out Bogdan Grad on DWCS late in 2023, before losing his UFC debut to Nikolas Motta in January of 2024.

“Big Train” returned just 4 months later to finish Victor Martinez inside the opening round of their fight at the UFC apex, and followed that up with a victory over Alex Reyes at UFC 305.

Borshchev (8-4-1 MMA, 3-3-1 UFC) has shown his potential in fits and starts since joining the promotion back in 2021, but with knockout wins over Chris Duncan, Maheshate Hayisaer and Dakota Bush to his name already, it’s clear he has the power to put anybody’s lights out.