Reliving UFC 212 as Max Holloway defeated two-time champion to take undisputed crown
Yesterday at 08:27 AM
The second pay-per-view event of the year is almost here as we prepare for another epic night of fight action at UFC 312.
This time we head to Sydney, Australia for UFC 312 where we can expect some mouthwatering contests, including the middleweight contest between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland – a repeat of the 2023 fight that Du Plessis won via split decision.
Also on the card is the strawweight between Weili Zhang and Tatiana Suarez, with the former aiming to defend her title for a third time.
If it’s anything like UFC 212, then we will be in a treat. The 2017 card featured a blockbuster featherweight unification bout between Max Holloway and two-time champion Jose Aldo.
But what happened? Let’s relive an unreal night of fighting from eight years ago.
What happened at UFC 212?
There was controversy before a punch had even been thrown at UFC 212 after the middleweight fight between Kelvin Gastelum and Anderson Silva only for Gasetlum to be pulled for a potential doping violation.
Nonetheless the show still went on and shock of the night saw Holloway become the unified champion against home favorite Aldo in Rio De Janeiro.
Aldo actually dominated the early proceedings until Holloway found his groove and floored the champ in the third round.
Once in position, the Hawaiian-born star unleashed a flurry of punches and despite Aldo’s best efforts to defend himself, the fight was waved off by referee John McCarthy.
Elsewhere on the night, Claudia Gadelha recorded a first round submission victory against Karolina Kowalkiewicz as the former jiu-jitsu champ confirmed her win with a rear naked choke.
Vitor Belfort was rewarded with a unanimous judges’ victory against Nathan Marquardt whilst there were also wins for Yancy Medeiros and Paulo Borrachinha via TKO, as well as Luan Chagas’ submission win against Jim Wallhead.
What Max Holloway said after becoming unified featherweight champion at UFC 212
Holloway was able to defy the odds and take the title of unified featherweight champion in emphatic style but he only had one thing on his mind.
After his win, Holloway called out Dana White, saying: “I’ve been telling you guys already, this is ‘Blessed’ era.
“Dana White, where’s my 50k? I want my cheque. I’ll see you guys in Hawaii. Make it happen.”
- READ MORE:Who is Max Holloway? Get to know the fighting pride of Hawaii and the current UFC 'BMF' champion
When is UFC 312?
UFC 312 takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Saturday 8 February (ET).
The pay-per-view event will start with preliminaries at 5:00 PM (ET), 10:00 PM (GMT) and 09:00 AM (NSW+1).
Following on from that, the main card gets underway at 10:00 PM (ET), 03:00 AM (GMT+1) and 2:00 PM (NSW+1).
