Ilia Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski to reignite rivalry as UFC 312 cornermen
An interesting subplot at UFC 312 involves UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and former champ Alexander Volkanovski who will be cornering against each other on Saturday when Topuria’s brother faces one of Volkanovski’s teammates.
An interesting subplot at UFC 312 involves both the reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and the former longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski.
No, neither are fighting at Saturday’s event in Sydney, Australia, although both will make the walk to the cage at Qudos Bank Arena.
That’s because Topuria’s older brother, Aleksandre Topuria, is set to make his UFC debut against Colby Thicknesse, a teammate of Volkanovski, in a featured preliminary bout.
Ilia will be in Aleksandre’s corner and Volkanovski will be in Thicknesse’s.
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Watch UFC 312 on Sportsnet+
Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland meet in a middleweight championship rematch, plus Weili Zhang looks to defend her strawweight title against unbeaten Tatiana Suarez. Watch UFC 312 on Saturday, Feb. 8 with prelim coverage beginning 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, and the pay-per-view main card starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
Volkanovski lost the 145-pound championship one year ago at UFC 298 when Topuria knocked him out in the second round of their main event matchup.
The UFC has not yet determined what’s next for either fighter but Volkanovski is pining for a rematch as Topuria continues to make a case that he should face lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev in a champion vs. champion bout.
Volkanovski has not fought since that loss; Topuria picked up his first title defence with a knockout win over Max Holloway at UFC 308 this past October.
Before the 145-pound title picture is all sorted out, though, Volkanovski and Topuria need to first settle their business as cornermen.
Aleksandre Topuria is 3-0 with three finishes since returning to mixed martial arts a few years ago. He took a six-year hiatus from competition during which he helped his brother become a world champion. The 29-year-old is 5-1 overall and has never gone the distance, win or lose.
Thicknesse is 7-0 as a pro and accepted this fight on short notice after Topuria’s original opponent Cody Haddon withdrew with a foot injury. Thicknesse, 25, fights out of New South Wales and should have the support of the Australian crowd.
This bantamweight matchup is scheduled for the televised portion of the prelims.
Outside of the two title fights atop the main card — Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland and Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez — there’s no denying the dearth of star power at UFC 312, however, the preliminary card does have a handful of fan-friendly style matchups and intriguing prospects in addition to Thicknesse vs. Topuria.
Wang Cong vs. Bruna Brasil: Prior to her upset loss to Gabriella Fernandes in November, Cong was regarded as one of the most promising new fighters in the flyweight division. The world kickboxing champion entered that fight 6-0 in MMA coming off a 62-second knockout win in her UFC debut but was rocked on the feet by Fernandes and then choked unconscious, a result that showed the 32-year-old from China remains green in terms of her overall skill set in her new sport. Brasil has alternated wins and losses since joining the UFC and is riding high off a July win over Molly McCann.
Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos: Saturday will mark three consecutive home games for Jenkins who also competed at UFC 305 in Perth (a TKO win) and UFC 293 in Sydney (a TKO loss due to an arm injury). Brazil’s Santos enters the bout as the betting favourite despite losing in two of his three UFC appearances.
Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev: Anytime Borshchev can keep the action on the feet it’s entirely possible chaos and/or a highlight knockout may occur. The 33-year-old Russian is 3-3-1 in the UFC since 2022. Nolan, 24, went 2-1 in his rookie campaign in 2024 and bounced back nicely from a 63-second loss in his debut to finish the year with two consecutive wins. Nolan has the more well-rounded skill set of the two lightweights but if this turns into a kickboxing-style matchup, that’s where Borshchev could shine.
The early prelims see a trio of recent Contender Series graduates with Jonathan Micallef, Kody Steele and Quillan Salkilld all set to make their official UFC debuts after Hyun Sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel opens the card.
Australia’s Micallef looked quite impressive in his dominant first-round submission win in October over Canada’s Mo Ado. He faces France’s Kevin Jousset. Steele is a touted 7-0 up-and-comer out of Team Syndicate in Las Vegas taking on Rong Zhu, while Australia’s Quillan Salkilld is the biggest betting favourite on the entire card ahead of his 155-pound scrap with India’s Anshul Jubli.
