After nearly a year away, the UFC made their triumphant return to the beautiful city of Sydney, Australia with their second consecutive numbered show in the span of a week: UFC 325. Although several key bouts ended up fizzling out from the card, the event proved to be a smashing success, with hometown hero and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his strap in dominant fashion over Diego Lopes.
While “The Great” kickstarted his second title stint in amazing fashion, UFC 325 saw several other competitors excel on the big stage. From the early portion of the action to the preliminary festivities, the Land Down Under saw some of the best mixed martial artists in the world duke it out to advance their own place on the roster and record phenomenal showings.
These are some of the most standout non-main card performances from UFC 325:
UFC 325: Keiichiro Nakamura Shines with Come-From-Behind Win
Despite losing in his debut, Keiichiro Nakamura has looked absolutely flawless in his professional career, logging seven straight wins heading into his Road to UFC finale match at UFC 325. Bulldozing his way through his first two opponents in the tournament, the 27-year old had his plate full against talented Aussie prospect Sebastian Szalay.
Competing almost solely in the Australia-based fighting promotion Eternal MMA, Szalay had risen to become the apex featherweight athlete in the country in the span of four years. Netting a company record of 7-1, “Seb” had successfully captured the organization’s 145-lb title and defended it once before signing up for the Road to UFC bracket in an effort to gain entrance into the mixed martial arts juggernaut.
For the first 13 minutes of his bout with Nakamura, it looked as if Szalay was a shoe-in to take home the unanimous decision triumph after battering the Japanese over the course of the fight. Amazingly, despite being down every single round on all the scorecards, Nakamura managed to shock the world by knocking out Szalay with a well-timed knee to his face, dropping him to the canvas in a splendid comeback during the UFC 325 undercard, earning him his UFC contract.
UFC 325: Jacob Malkoun Makes Statement After Long Layoff
At UFC on ESPN 54 back in 2024, Jacob Malkoun got back into the win column by taking out former Ultimate Fighter competitor Andre Petroski, seemingly moving past an unfortunate disqualification in his last Octagon outing opposite Cody Brundage. Sadly, he wouldn’t be able to get much momentum going, as various injuries kept him sidelined for the remainder of the year, in addition to the entirety of 2025. Finally, after almost two years away, “Mamba” returned to action at UFC 325, where he locked horns with the one of the most touted middleweight Contender Series standouts ever: Torrez Finney.
Appearing on the Contender Series on three separate occasions, Finney had gained a major amount of notoriety for his impeccable wrestling ability, terrific microphone skills and his unique physicality for the middleweight division. At only 5 ‘8, the Georgia native held a glaring height and reach disadvantage compared to the rest of the competition in his weight class. However, this did not stop him from dominantly smashing his opponents with his world-class grappling, which aided him in at last nabbing a UFC contract last year on his final showing on the Contender Series. He then followed that up by steamrolling Robert Valentin in his debut, garnering a split decision victory.
After a long time away from the cage, no one could have predicted how Malkoun was going to deal with the constant forward pressure and absurd strength of Finney. To the surprise of many, though, the Aussie looked even better than before his break, stuffing Finney’s lone takedown of the tilt while landing two of his own. He also massively outstruck “The Punisher” for the entire affair, landing 177 significant strikes to Finney’s meager 27. Not losing a step from his last fight, Malkoun took home a convincing unanimous decision victory, cementing his place as a combatant to watch out for at 185-lb.
UFC 325: Cameron Rowston, Cody Brundage Deliver Fight of the Night Contenders During Preliminaries
For many fans, as well as the UFC itself, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes earned the official Fight of the Night award after their thrilling five-round championship war. But well before that on the preliminary card, Cameron Rowston and Cody Brundage put on an electrifying barnburner that left many on the edge of their seats.
Fighting twice in the span of just over a month, Rowston first snagged a UFC contract on the Contender Series in August 2025 by decimating the then undefeated Brandon Holmes in the first round. He then followed that up by starching the aforementioned Andre Petroski in just two minutes at UFC Fight Night: Ulberg vs. Reyes that September, elevating himself as a top up-and-coming striker at middleweight.
Brundage, on the other hand, had fallen on hard times in his stint with the promotion. From UFC 300 in 2024 to UFC 325, the Factory X product had won just a single scrap, with his last five matches totaling a record of 1-2-1 with one no-contest. Although he still had the power and grit to go toe-to-toe with anyone put in front of him, it was seemingly apparent that Brundage’s best days in the organization may have been behind him.
While many didn’t give Brundage a high amount of hope to come out with the victory over Rowston, the promotional veteran kept a high pace with the Contender Series standout, going blow-for-blow with the Australian “Battle Giraffe.” However, in the second round, Brundage’s durability and gas tank had finally reached its limit, as Rowston was able to keep his opponent on the ground following a failed takedown attempt, battering him with grounded punches that forced the referee to stop the contest.