Alexander Volkanovski and the Winners, Losers and Results from UFC 325
Familiarity was the theme of the week for Alexander Volkanovski.
The 37-year-old featherweight king fought in his native Australia for the 17th time as a pro, and he saw a known commodity across the mat in Diego Lopes, whom he'd beaten by competitive decision 10 months ago.
The rematch came atop a 13-bout UFC 325 card at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, and it was Volkanovski's first defense of a second reign that began when he beat Lopes to fill a vacant throne at UFC 314 in Miami last April.
The B/R combat team was in position to take in all the action and delivered a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Sequel Superiority
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It was Volkanovski's 17th time fighting in Australia and the sixth time he'd walked out as a defending UFC champion, but it was the first time he'd done both.
Nevertheless, he'd visualized a victorious moment several times.
And he got to experience it after a second go-round with Lopes, vanquishing his No. 2 contender with a superb display of precision striking, effective movement and late-stage grappling that earned him a unanimous decision in which two judges gave him four of five rounds and a third had him pitching a 5-0 shutout.
It was an even clearer win than the first time 10 months ago in Miami, when the scores were 4-1, 4-1, and 3-2.
"We were ready for him to make adjustments," Volkanovski said. "That just means I've got to use my other tools. That's what makes a true champion. I've got 'em all. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have skills."
It was his eighth overall championship win at 145 pounds, equaling a mark set by Jose Aldo, who reigned from 2010 to 2015 before a KO loss to Conor McGregor. He later regained the title but lost it to Max Holloway, whom Volkanovski defeated to begin his first reign in 2019.
Lopes, meanwhile, lost for the third time in nine fights since arriving in 2021.
"Adversity is a privilege. But I love it," Volkanovski said. "I wanted to take him out, grab a hold of him and take him down. But he's strong. I almost had my moment in Perth (where he lost a lightweight title shot to Islam Makhachev in 2023) but I got my moment in Sydney."
Winner: Relishing the Role
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When someone on the level of a Michael Bisping labels you "the most violent force in the game," you've got a standard to uphold every time you step into the cage.
And French military veteran Benoรฎt Saint-Denis was up to the task.
The UFC's eighth-ranked lightweight stated his case for a significant climb up the ladder with a particularly violent second-round stoppage of No. 6 Dan Hooker, leaving the popular New Zealander swollen, bloodied, and unable to return fire in less than 10 minutes.
"He just goes forward, punches you while you're punching him, and grabs the leg to take you down," analyst Daniel Cormier said, accurately describing the 30-year-old's approach while securing his ninth win in 12 UFC bouts and fourth in a row since a 2024 skid.
Saint-Denis walked through volleys of Hooker's strikes while chasing takedowns in the first round, then, ironically, seized a decisive advantage when Hooker went for a takedown of his own in the second.
He quickly reversed the position and weaved between, pursuing a finish by arm-triangle choke and mounting Hooker to deliver series after series of punishing elbows.
Eventually, he switched to punches and beat Hooker into a state of nonresponsiveness, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in at 4:45.
"I'm gonna be champion this year," Saint-Denis said. "I'm going to get the f--king belt. I'm here to be the champion."
Winner: Resurgent Response
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And that, UFC fans, is how you respond to adversity.
Mauricio Ruffy's rise to the lightweight elite was abruptly halted by a second-round choke-out loss to Saint-Denis five months ago in Paris, but rather than walk away from the sport or regress into mediocrity, he changed his approach.
The Brazilian left the Fighting Nerds training camp for a new team in New Zealand, spent two months away from family while preparing for Rafael Fiziev, then made it pay off with a shockingly abrupt second-round TKO of his ninth-ranked foe at 155 pounds.
"That's by far the biggest win of his career," blow-by-blow man Jon Anik said.
Indeed, it was, and it came after a tactical first round in which his Azerbaijani opponent effectively pursued him and strafed his left leg with hard kicks, before a late rally in which Ruffy finally appeared to be getting into his flow state.
It continued in the second round when he landed a hard right hand that sent Fiziev spinning dizzily away. A follow-up volley had Fiziev struggling to stay on his feet before he tumbled backward to the floor along the fence.
There, Ruffy landed another series of shots to force the hand of referee Dan Movahedi.
"That was the game plan. But the game plan wasn't the challenge," Ruffy said. "The challenge was training camp. But I got here and did the hard work, and it paid off." ย
Loser: Fan Frustration
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The crowd hated it. It's easy to imagine that Dana White did, too.
But jiu-jitsu ace Tallison Teixeira knew that the duller his bout with shooey-swigging heavyweight Tai Tuivasa got, the better a chance he'd have to win it.
And he was right.
The towering Brazilian snuffed any chance at a slugfest with takedowns and smothering in each of the first two rounds, then survived the Aussie favorite's desperate pursuit of a KO down the stretch on the way to an easy-to-score unanimous decision.
All three judges had it 29-28, with each giving Teixeira the first two rounds.
It was the first time in a nine-fight career that he'd gone into a second round, and the first time in his UFC run that he'd seen a second minute.
Not surprisingly, he was exhausted by the end, but Tuivasa's similarly suspect cardio kept the local hero from finishing the late rally.
"He's absolutely a tough guy, and he's a knockout artist," said Teixeira, who'd been KO'd in 35 seconds by Derrick Lewis seven months ago. "My plan was to get him to the ground and go to work."
Winner: Aussie Ascension
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Call it Aussie-on-Aussie crime. Both physical and verbal.
Rising lightweight prospect Quillan Salkilld slammed countryman Jamie Mullarkey to the ground, quickly wrapped his right arm around the 31-year-old veteran's neck, and squeezed until his rival could no longer take the pain just 3:02 into the opening round.
Then he leapt to the top of the cage, smiled down at the nearby broadcast crew, and said, "Easy work."
Disrespectful? Maybe. Arrogant? Sure. But not at all incorrect.
The win was Salkilld's fourth straight in the UFC's 155-pound ranks, tying him for the third-longest stretch in the weight class and prompting a suggestion that a top-15 foe ought to be next.
It came just three months and a week after he'd flattened Nasrat Haqparast with a head kick, showing that his strategy of entering a fight with no set plan was a positive.
"I come into these fights expecting everything," he said. "Whatever presents itself at the time, I want to take advantage of it. So, the game plan was to come in and fight. But grappling is my strength. If they want to grapple with me, it's too bad for them."
Winner: Mother-Loving Mojo
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Go ahead.
Just try and compete with a guy nicknamed "Son of Susie" on Mom's big day.
That's what light heavyweight Junior Tafa was up against in the form of American import Billy Elekana, whose late mother was immediately on his mind after he patiently pursued the Aussie and finished him with a second-round rear-naked choke.
"It's my mom's birthday, and I lost her a few years ago," Elekana said, "so I'm definitely thinking about her, and I want to dedicate this to her."
It was his 10th victory in 12 career fights and third in a row as a UFC light heavyweight, giving him the third-longest win streak in the weight class and giving analysts reason to forecast him as a dark horse contender at 205 pounds.
Tafa was effective on his feet with strong work to Elekana's body in the opening round, but Elekana landed a momentum-changing right hand midway through the second, then ducked under a desperate Tafa reply and got the takedown that led to the submission. ย
"The plan wasn't to come in and go 100 miles per hour," Elekana said. "When I got him down, I took my time, and we got the finish. I've been working my ground game the past few years, and I've got a lot of confidence in it."
Loser: Ignoring the Teachers
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It's never a good sign when the analysts start circling.
Cody Brundage didn't seem outclassed before a mid-card middleweight matchup with Cam Rowston, but his trance-like approach in the cage had his corner and the fight veterans on the broadcast perplexed about what the issue could be.
Trainer Marc Montoya worked through a series of instructions after his man was outworked and intermittently battered in the first round, but when Brundage went right back to his curiously inactive stance in the second, analyst Din Thomas couldn't help but react.
"I feel bad for Coach Montoya," he said.
"Because (Brundage) is fighting in moments. He's not listening to his coach. Montoya is saying all the right things, but he's just not doing them."
Soon after, it was Bisping and Cormier getting their pounds of flesh as Brundage was dropped with a jumping knee and mauled on the ground, where he'd expected to thrive, until referee Jim Perdios stepped in to end the rout at 4:08.
"In the position where you think you hold the advantage and you're losing, you start to struggle there," Cormier said. "A fighter starts to tell himself, 'I'm probably going to lose here.'"
Loser: Unbeaten and Unprepared
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The record said Torrez Finney was unbeaten both in the UFC and as a pro.
But based on the 15 minutes he spent in the cage with Aussie middleweight and eight-fight octagonal veteran Jacob Malkoun, he was woefully unprepared for the task.
Stoutly built at 5'8" and 186 pounds, Finney was ineffective fighting at distance, too slow to get inside, and not skilled enough to get his man to the mat on the way to losing a unanimous decision that was barely as close as the trio of shutout scorecards indicated.
One judge saw it 30-27 for Malkoun, who'd not appeared in nearly two full years thanks to myriad injuries, while the other two had it 30-26 thanks to a 10-8 margin in Round 1.
It was Finney's first blemish on a resume that featured 11 straight wins, including seven across four smaller promotions, three in separate Contender Series appearances, and one in his official UFC debutโa split decision over Robert Valentin 10 months ago.
And it didn't do much for his California-based corner team from the Daniel Cormier Wrestling Academy, which seemed exasperated at his inability to execute their strategies.
"That's how we box, clean short punches, don't load up," Malkoun said. "That wasn't my best performance. But anyone in the top 10, you can get it."
Winner: Slow-Motion Submission
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It was like watching a smothering in slow motion.
Welterweight Jonathan Micallef got Oban Elliott to the ground, locked him in position with his legs, and snaked his left arm around the stricken Welshman's neck as he chased a second career finish by rear-naked choke.
And then it got brutal.
Elliott initially tried to wriggle his way to an escape, then, as his face reddened and his air supply dwindled, he reached back to pull at Micallef's hands to unlock the hold.
But the more he reached, the less success he had, ultimately fading into semi-consciousness and rolling face-first to the floor, as referee Marc Goddard finally ended his suffering and intervened at 3:31 of Round 2.
It's a ninth win and sixth finish for Micallef, now 2-0 with the promotion after arriving with a Contender Series victory in 2024.
"He surprised me with the hands," Micallef said. "He's a lot slicker than he looks on film. But I'm too big, too strong, and too technical on the ground."
Loser: Ringside Rancor
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You may believe fighters from Australia or New Zealandโon the bill in 12 of the night's 13 fightsโarrived predestined to win any fight that was close.
If so, the majority decision given to Kaan Ofli was no surprise, even if you disagreed.
But to the broadcast team, it was still good for a verbal gasp or two.
The 32-year-old featherweight had his hand raised for a second straight time after two judges gave him two of three rounds against Chinese foe Yizha, who got a draw from the third judge but was considered a lock by Bisping and Cormier.
"I don't know, man," Cormier muttered in the immediate aftermath of Bruce Buffer's official announcement. "I don't know."
Anik agreed, saying, "I think it's safe to say that everyone at the broadcast table agrees with you."
It wasn't universal, however, as B/R's W/L scorecard agreed with the majority and had Ofli up 29-28, giving him the first and third rounds. In fact, all three judges gave him rounds one and three, with the single deadlocked score resulting from judge David Lethaby's 10-8 margin for Yizha in the second.
Winner: Sudden Stimulation
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Just when it seemed reviews of the trio of "Road to UFC" bouts that kicked off Saturday's show were sure to include words like "tedious" and "dull," Japanese featherweight Keiichiro Nakamura found a way to change the narrative.
With one well-placed knee.
The 27-year-old veteran of eight professional fights caught Sebastian Szalay squarely on the jaw as the Aussie southpaw stepped in with a right jab, sending him toppling to the floor, where he dizzily took three ground strikes before referee Herb Dean intervened at 3:48 of Round 3.
It was Nakamura's eighth victory and seventh finish in a four-year pro career, and it yielded him a UFC contract, while Szalay was on the losing short end for the first time since a nine-fight win streak began five years ago in the Eternal MMA promotion.
Bantamweights Sulangrangbo and Lawrence Lui began the card with a largely monotonous three-rounder that Lui won by split decision, and the Nakamura-Szalay bout was followed by Dom Mar Fan over Sangwook Kim at lightweight.
Loser: Throwing in the Towel
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Cutting weight is hard. Trying to convince weigh-in officials you've hit your contracted number when you haven't is even harder.
Flyweight Aaron Tau learned that on Friday when he tried to pull a fast one at the scales, leaning on the shade that's typically lifted when fighters remove all their clothing in an effort to shed every excess ounce.
The ploy backfired because Tau's weight was well below the required 126 pounds, prompting a second step onto the scale, this time with the shade removed.
Left with nothing to lean on, Tau's actual weight was 129 pounds, and his "Road to UFC" finale with Namsrai Batbayar was quickly pulled from the show.
Blow-by-blow man John Gooden said Saturday that the match would be rescheduled, but there's no guarantee that Tau won't incur an additional penalty or suspension from the local commission or the promotion, aside from missing out on the UFC contract he'd have earned with a Saturday win.
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)
Benoรฎt Saint-Denis def. Dan Hooker by TKO (punches), 4:45, Round 2
Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev by TKO (punches), 4:30, Round 2
Tallison Teixeira def. Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Quillan Salkilld def. Jamie Mullarkey by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:02, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Junior Tafa v Billy Elekana by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:18, Round 2
Cam Rowston def. Cody Brundage by TKO (punches), 4:08, Round 2
Jacob Malkoun def. Torrez Finney by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Jonathan Micallef def. Oban Elliott by technical submission (rear-naked choke), 3:31, Round 2
Early Preliminary Card
Kaan Ofli def. Yi Zha by majority decision (29-28, 28-28, 29-28)
Dom Mar Fan def. Sangwook Kim by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay by TKO (knee), 3:48, Round 3
Lawrence Lui def. Sulangrangbo by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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