UFC 312, Rookie Report

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!

UFC is back in “Down Under” for UFC 312, its second pay-per-view (PPV) of 2025. It all goes down this weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025) inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Two championship fights headline the card (check out the entire card here), and six fighters are making their UFC debuts.

Let’s meet them.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8, Week 6 Weigh-In

Tallison Teixeira

Weight Class: Heavyweight

Age: 25

Record: 7-0

Tallison Teixeira received his UFC contract on season eight of Contender Series after starching Arthur Lopes in under two minutes.

Brazil’s Teixeira stands 6’7″, and surprisingly, he doesn’t use his height and reach well. He really hasn’t needed to because he’s never made it to a second round and holds the coveted 100% finish rate with six knockouts.

Brazil’s Teixeira makes his UFC debut in the “Featured bout” on the PPV main card, which doesn’t happen often. He’s there for a reason, though: He faces fellow knockout artist Justin Tafa, and this fight should end violently on paper.

However, he could be in trouble if the Brazilian cannot finish Tafa in the opening round. Tafa has gone 15 minutes three other times, and there may be cardio issues from Teixeira.

Nevertheless, Teixeira is a great addition to the Heavyweight roster and will be fun to watch.

Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Week 9

Kody Steele

Weight Class: Lightweight

Age: 29

Record: 7-0

Of all the fighters that came off season eight of Contender Series, Kody Steele is one of the best prospects of the bunch. I mean, he literally made his scheduled opponent, Quemuel Ottoni, suffer a panic attack and pull out of the bout a few hours before the fight. He would fight a new opponent four weeks later and win with a vicious body shot knockout (watch highlights).

Steele is a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt who competed full-time in grappling matches before transitioning to mixed martial arts (MMA). The thing is, he really hasn’t shown his BJJ in any of his fights. He likes to knock people out and has done so four times.

While the 29-year-old is still raw and got into MMA a little later than he should have, his athleticism will take him far. Steele is very aggressive, will walk his opponents down, has power, and has the ‘get out of jail free card’ with his grappling.

His UFC debut will be interesting because he faces Rongzhu, who has way more experience (24 more fights, to be exact), has been released from the UFC, fought his way back, and can match Steele’s athleticism.

Aleksandre Topuria

Weight Class: Bantamweight

Age: 29

Record: 5-1

On the UFC 312 “Prelims,” there is a debut vs. debut matchup between Aleksandre Topuria and Colby Thicknesse, aka Ilia Topuria vs. Alexander Volkanovski 2 from Wish (read about it here).

Anyways, first and foremost, Aleksandre is no Ilia, and I will go out on a limb and say he’s only in the UFC because of his brother.

Since 2015, he’s fought three times against absolutely garbage competition, but in those fights, he has shown that he does have good power and okay grappling.

In no way should he be a -410 betting favorite, but I guess his last name adds value. He was supposed to fight Cody Haddon (in which he would have gotten smoked), but Thicknesse is stepping up on short notice.

To be clear, Topuria might be very good, but he hasn’t fought anyone, so it’s hard to gauge. Nevertheless, he will answer some questions this weekend.

Colby Thicknesse

Weight Class: Bantamweight

Age: 25

Record: 7-0

Colby Thicknesse has been former UFC Featherweight champion Volkanovski’s main training partner for some time now. He has been among the best Australian prospects since making his MMA debut in 2020.

Thicknesse had a long and successful amateur career, which has led to a flawless professional career thus far. He is a former HEX Bantamweight champion and is riding a three-fight finish streak, all of which were first-round stoppages.

“Slickness” is best when grappling because of his slick submissions. His striking is coming along but needs work. He has nice trips and can be overly aggressive when trying to get a takedown.

Thichnesse’s ceiling is high at just 25 years old, and having Volkanovksi as a mentor should serve him well.

Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Week 4

Quillan Salkilld

Weight Class: Lightweight

Age: 25

Record: 7-0

After losing his professional debut, Quillan Salkilld had a fire lit under him because it halted all of the momentum he had built up after a long, successful amateur career.

And that fire led him to capture the Eternal MMA Lightweight championship and defend it twice. He was supposed to compete on Road To UFC season three in a showcase bout, but a day before the event, his opponent pulled out, shattering his dreams.

Salkilld’s dreams weren’t shattered for long as he got the call for season eight of Contender Series, and he put on an absolute banger of a fight against Gauge Young, winning a unanimous decision.

Salkilld is a must-watch television fighter because of his forward-pressure Muay Thai striking and the pace he puts on his opponents. He is large for the division, not in height, even though he’s 6’0″. He uses his reach well, and his counter-striking is very dangerous.

His wrestling and grappling were good on the regional scene, and it will be interesting to see how they translate and improve in the UFC.

The 25-year-old does get taken down, but he always finds a way to get back up.

Salkilld should style on his opponent Anshul Jubli, who got beat by a barking Mike Breeden in his last outing, but this is MMA, and anything can happen.

Jonathan Micallef

Weight Class: Welterweight

Age: 25

Record: 7-1

Earlier, I said Steele was one of the best prospects to come off season eight of the Contender Series, but now I’m on the completely other side, where Jonathan Micallef might be on the weaker signings.

Micallef is very one-dimensional as a grappler, but he’s damn good at it. However, it could lead to a short UFC career if he doesn’t adapt quickly.

His striking is pretty non-existent, and while it worked on the Australian regional scene, it’s not good.

But with all that being said, if Micallef gets his opponent down in a dominant position, he has a very, very good chance at pulling off his slick submissions. The problem is that Micallef is fighting Kevin Jousset, who is the much better fighter and is taking a step back in competition in a “tune-up fight.”

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 312 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/Disney+/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 312: “du Plessis vs. Strickland 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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