Undefeated lightweight Kody Steele made his promotional debut at UFC 312 on Saturday, with the DWCS alum paired up opposite Rong Zhu.
Zhu was on his second stint with the UFC, and coming off a loss in his return fight that had seen him suffer a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss against Chris Padilla.
The third fight of the evening came with a slowish start as both men were inching forward with jabs and leg kicks. The crowd, frustrated with the lack of action, let their displeasure be known, which apparently forced Steele to shoot. While he got the takedown, Zhu rolled and escaped to the feet. Steele was throwing the hooks really not picking his spots. Zhu was throwing better straights but was obliging to trading in the pocket. A huge right hand landed from Steele; that got a reaction from Zhu. Zhu responded with a huge left hand putting Steele on skates for a second. Zhu chased a finish and Steele was hurt but throwing back. Throwing back heavy too as they swung it out to the bell.
Round two saw the action picked back up with Zhu dropping Steele with a power jab. Zhu jumped on top but Steele still aware and threatened a leg lock to get to his feet. Both guys were swinging for the fences when they let go. A lot of punches were whiffing but what was landing was creating tense moments. Zhu was finding his range beating Steele to the punch as the faster striker. Zhu was doing a great job of following up his punches missing on one but landing on the follow-up. Steele was doing too much loading up not finding the success he was early in the fight.
Into the final round they quickly fired in the pocket trading punches. Zhu was sticking Steele with the jab. Steele would throw power hooks but was getting beat by everything coming in a straight line by Zhu. Steele badly needing to mix up; he did land a beautiful combination to the body. What Zhu did so well was find his range, and he was throwing in combinations and started to kick the lead leg as well. He got more momentum as the fight went on and didn’t seem bothered by Steele’s power. In the final minute Steele was swinging for the fences. Kody Steele was clearly wanting a brawl at the end and Zhu obliged in the final seconds. Risky but his chin held up and so did Steele’s as he took a lot of damage.
It was China’s Zhu Rong getting the win in the end of what turned out to be an entertaining slugfest.
Official Result: Zhu Rong def. Kody Steele by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
