Aleksandre Topuria Expected to Make Octagon Debut at UFC 312 in Sydney

The elder brother of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make his Octagon debut Down Under.

Aleksandre Topuria is expected to face Cody Haddon in a bantamweight bout at UFC 312 on Feb. 8. The booking was initially reported by Australian MMA and subsequently confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. UFC 312 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and is headlined by a middleweight championship rematch between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

The 28-year-old Topuria will be competing for the first time since May 2023, when he defeated Johan Segas via first-round technical knockout at The Way of the Warrior 9 in Madrid, Spain. “El Conquistador” has won five of his six professional outings, with all of his victories coming inside the distance. He began his professional MMA tenure in 2015 and fought three times that year but did not return to action again until December 2021.

A native of Perth, Haddon has been victorious in eight of his nine professional bouts. After submitting Billy Brand on Dana White's Contender Series this past August, the 26-year-old Aussie outpointed Dan Argueta in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 244 on Oct. 12. Haddon has finished all but one of his career triumphs.