Preview: UFC 312 Prelims

Lightweights

Kody Steele (7-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Zhu Rong (25-6, 1-3 UFC)

ODDS: Steele (-218), Rong (+180)

Steele was one of the more interesting signings coming off this most recent season of the Contender Series, and it will be fascinating to see how quickly he can move up the lightweight ladder. A former standout grappler, Steele’s upside might be limited by his late start in mixed martial arts, as he was already in his late 20s upon his professional debut and is already nearing 30 years old. Past that, it’s mostly good news. Steele is built for horsepower and has proven to be a natural in his new sport, as he has some striking craft to go along with the type of aggressive and pressure-heavy style that works best in today’s mixed martial arts game. That approach could wind up walking Steele into danger, however, which is where some real questions would start to get answered; and that might happen in his UFC debut against Rong. China’s Rong is another fighter who has more athletic potential than production at this point, though in his case, he started young and has packed a lot of experience into his 24 years, with this already being his second UFC stint. Rong is a jack of all trades who takes a while to heat up over the course of his fights—a flaw that he hasn’t been able to overcome at the UFC level. However, as both his regional career and run through the 2023 “Road to UFC” tournament show, he has the horsepower to eventually overwhelm most opponents on the Asian scene. A clear loss to Chris Padilla in his official UFC return didn’t bode well for Rong’s comeback, and this looks like another tough matchup against an opponent with the willingness to take initiative and the athleticism to hold onto it. The pick is Steele via second-round stoppage.

Jump To »
Jenkins vs. Santos
Borshchev vs. Nolan
Wang vs. Brasil
Topuria vs. Thicknesse
Steele vs. Rong
Jousset vs. Micallef
Salkilld vs. Jubli
Park vs. Tumendemberel