The UFC is back in the land down under, Sydney, Australia, for their next premium live event, UFC 325 on January 31. This event is taking place at the Qudos Bank Arena and will air live on Paramount+ at 9:00 p.m. ET. Australia’s own, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski, is returning home to defend his Featherweight title against Diego Lopes in a rematch from UFC 314.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Volkanovski is a -155 favorite with the challenger being a +130 underdog. This fight is -130 to not go the distance and +100 to go to the judges’ scorecards. The over/under is set at 4.5 rounds with the over being -120.
12:00 a.m. ET: Alexander Volkanovski defeated Diego Lopes via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)
Alexander Volkanovski has successfully defended his Featherweight Championship against Diego Lopes. Volkanovski landed 28 more significant strikes than Lopes, while totaling 2:49 of control time and two takedowns.
Volkanovski was +140 before the fight to win via decision on DraftKings Sportsbook.
11:57 p.m. ET: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 – Round 5
Volkanovski finally landed a takedown in the fifth round. Lopes tried to land big submissions, but the champion reversed all of his attempts. For me, this was a 5-0 victory for Volkanovski, but we await the judges’ scorecards.
10-9, 50-45 Volkanovski
11:50 p.m. ET: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 – Round 4
Volkanovski was still the more effective striker in the fourth round. The champion is doing an excellent job of moving around the Octagon, making it difficult for Lopes to find his rhythm. Volkanovski hit Lopes with a low blow, but the challenger returned to action.
10-9, 40-36 Volkanovski
11:44 p.m. ET: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 – Round 3
This was a quiet round until Volkanovski connected on a big combination. The champion continued to be effective, landing effective strikes on Lopes. It appeared that Lopes dropped Volkanovski, but the champion might have slipped.
10-9, 30-27 Volkanovski
11:37 p.m. ET: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 – Round 2
Volkanovski and Lopes both didn’t have a high output to start the second. But the champion closed the distance and landed a few significant strikes. Lopes responded with big punches of his own. This was another round for Volkanovski.
20-18 Volkanovski
11:31 p.m. ET: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 – Round 1
Both fighters started to feel each other out in the first minute. Volkanovski began landing leg kicks and attempted two takedowns, but couldn’t complete the attempts. It was a close round, but the champion did enough to win the first.
10-9 Volkanovski
11:06 p.m. ET: Benoit Saint Denis defeated Dan Hooker via second-round TKO
Benoit Saint Denis beat Dan Hooker by second-round TKO and has won four straight fights via finish. Saint Denis finished with 112 significant strikes, compared to Hooker’s 24. BSD also landed two takedowns with 6:14 of control time.
After getting the fight back to the ground, Saint Denis unloaded with plenty of ground and pound strikes. Hooker started to bleed after BSD landed more big punches on the ground. BSD was +900 to win via second-round KO/TKO/DQ before the fight.
Up next: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes for the Featherweight title.
10:56 p.m. ET: Hooker vs. Saint Denis – Round 1
Hooker came out aggressively and pressured BSD right away. Saint Denis was passive and couldn’t get going. BSD only landed one of his first five takedown attempts. Later in the round, Saint Denis began to find more success and did enough to win the first.
10-9 Saint Denis
10:35 p.m. ET: Mauricio Ruffy defeats Rafael Fiziev via second-round KO/TKO
After a slow start, Mauricio Ruffy picked up the pace, leading to a knockout victory over Rafael Fiziev. Ruffy moves to 4-1 in the UFC with three finishes and is 13-2 in his career.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Ruffy was +850 to win by a second-round KO/TKO/DQ. Ruffy was also +250 to win by knockout before the contest.
Up next: Dan Hooker vs. Benoit Saint Denis in a Lightweight bout.
10:26 p.m. ET: Fiziev vs. Ruffy – Round 1
From the start of this bout, Fiziev was more aggressive, pushing Ruffy back towards the cage. Ruffy was too passive in the first round but landed more often later in the first.
10-9 Ruffy
10:06 p.m. ET: Tallison Teixeira defeats Tai Tuivasa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tallison Teixeira picks up the victory against Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision. Teixeira is now 9-1 overall and 2-1 in the UFC. This is Tuivasa’s sixth consecutive loss.
Teixeira finished with 46 significant strikes, two more than Tuivasa. Also, Teixeira recorded three takedowns with seven minutes of control time.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Teixeira was +1100 to win this contest via decision before the fight began.
Up next: Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy in a Lightweight contest.
10:02 p.m. ET: Tuivasa vs. Teixeira – Round 3
Tuivasa hurt Teixeira in the third round, but Teixeira bounced back with a few punches of his own. Towards the end of the round, both fighters were exhausted and had little energy left.
10-9 Tuivasa, 29-28 Teixeira
9:57 p.m. ET: Tuivasa vs. Teixeira – Round 2
Tuivasa and Teixeira both landed some effective strikes in the first two minutes of the second. But then Teixeira landed another takedown. Tuivasa just hasn’t done enough through the first two rounds.
10-9, 20-18 Teixeira
9:50 p.m. ET: Tuivasa vs. Teixeira – Round 1
Teixeira took Tuivasa down early in this fight, and Tuivasa struggled to get back to his feet. At the end of the round, Tuivasa got back to his feet and started to control Teixeira in the clinch. Teixeira finished with 12 significant strikes and 3:57 of control time in the first.
10-9 Teixeira
9:28 p.m. ET: Quillan Salkilld defeats Jamie Mullarkey via first-round submission
Quillan Salkilld moves to 11-1 and 4-0 in the UFC after submitting Jamie Mullarkey in the first round. Mullarkey has now lost three of his previous four contests. Three of Salkilld’s previous four wins have come by knockout or submission.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Salkilld was a +450 to win by a submission in the first round. Salkilld was also a -1050 favorite before this fight.
Main card
UFC Undisputed Featherweight Championship: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. #2 Diego Lopes
Lightweight Bout: #6 Dan Hooker vs. #8 Benoit Saint Denis
Lightweight Bout: #9 Rafael Fiziev vs. #14 Mauricio Ruffy
Heavyweight Bout: #12 Tai Tuivasa vs. #15 Tallison Teixeira
Lightweight Bout: Quillan Salkilld vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Prelims
Billy Elekana def. Junior Tafa via second-round submission
Middleweight: Cameron Rowston vs. Cody Brundage
Jacob Malkoun def. Torrez Finney via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Jonathan Micallef def. Oban Elliott via second-round submission
Early prelims
Kaan Ofli def. Yizha via majority decision (29-28, 28-28, 29-28)
Dom Mar Fan def. Sangwook Kim via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay via third-round TKO
Lawrence Lui def. Sulangrangbo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
