UFC 305 goes down this Saturday (August 17th) at the RAC Arena, Perth with a huge Middleweight title fight topping the bill.
In the main event, Dricus Du Plessis will make the trip to Australia as he puts his Middleweight title on the line against two time champion Israel Adesanya. Du Plessis claimed 185lbs gold in a five round war with Sean Strickland at UFC 297. The champion’s run since signing with the UFC has been perfect, currently holding a 7-0 promotional record. After signing with the UFC in 2020, ‘Stillknocks’ has added some big names to his record having handed defeats to the likes of Darren Till and Robert Whittaker.
UFC 305 will see Adesanya compete for the first time in almost a year. After earning the belt at UFC 243, ‘The Last Stylebender’ looked unbeatable as he made 5 defences of the belt before he faced long time nemesis Alex Pereira at UFC 281. After a back and forth affair, ‘Poatan’ defeated Adesanya in the fifth and final round with a standing TKO. Adesanya got his revenge 5 months later to become a two time champion, before dropping the belt to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
In the co-main event, Kai Kara-France will be looking to claim his first win since 2022 when he takes on Steve Erceg. Kara-France has struggled to remain active as of late, having only competed once in 2023 and twice in 2022. After finding himself on a three fight win streak, ‘Don’t Blink’ faced Brandon Moreno at UFC 277. Unfortunately for the New Zealand native, Moreno landed a solid liver kick in the third that sent him to the mat, the Mexican then followed up with several strikes to bring an end to the bout. In his last time out, Kara-France dropped a split decision to Amir Albazi.
Steve Erceg also comes into the bout on the back of a loss. ‘Astroboy’ faced Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301, earlier this year. When the bout was first announced, many fans were shocked that the 29-year-old was receiving a title shot just four fights into his UFC tenure. However, Erceg impressed across the 25 minutes but could not do enough to claim UFC gold.
The whole card is littered with Australian and New Zealand talent with the likes of Dan Hooker, Tai Tuivasa and Justin Tafa all set to feature. Hooker will take on an in form Mateusz Gamrot, Tuivasa has a big challenge on his hands in the shape of Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Justin Tafa will look to get back to winning ways against Valter Walker.
Ahead of the event, the UFC’s “Embedded” cameras are following the fighters behind the scenes as they work their way through fight week, as they arrive in Perth and go through their pre-fight media obligations before the weigh-ins and the final faceoffs ahead of fight night.
As described on the UFC’s official YouTube channel, in Episode 3 'Champ Dricus Du Plessis continues his training; City Kickboxing sets up camp in Australia; Mateusz Gamrot has lunch; Steve Erceg teaches students; Fighters begin their fight week check-ins; Australia welcomes UFC athletes.'
