After a lackluster event last week, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads “Down Under” this weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024) to RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, for UFC 305. In the pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Dricus Du Plessis defends his Middleweight belt for the first time against bitter African rival, Israel Adesanya. In UFC 305’s co-main event, former Flyweight title challenger, Steve Erceg, takes on former interim Flyweight title challenger, Kai Kara-France.
UFC 305 has a ton of fun fights, and it should have a fun atmosphere. So, before UFC’s ninth pay-per-view (PPV) goes down tomorrow night on ESPN+, let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …
‘City of Light’
UFC returns to Perth, Australia, for the first time since UFC 284, where Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski competed in 2023’s “Fight of the Year.” In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett to claim the interim Featherweight championship (watch highlights). Jack Della Maddalena was also on the card and knocked out Randy Brown in the first round (see that here).
Bad Blood
It’s been more than one year since Adesanya and Du Plessis had their infamous staredown at UFC 290 (see that here). And while the fight would have been much bigger if it were to go down at UFC 293 (or UFC 300) like it was supposed to, there still is bad blood attached to it. And mainly because of Du Plessis’ comments about Africa. With “Stillknocks” now holding the belt, the dynamic is different.
History
Adesanya and Du Plessis will mark the first time two African-born athletes meet for a title in the organization.
It kind of feels like UFC screwed up by not having this fight take place in … AFRICA … right?
Maybe next time …
Enemy Territory
With the fight not taking place in Africa, Du Plessis will enter enemy territory. While Adesanya is not Australian, he often fights in the country and is close enough to New Zealand.
Feelin’ Fresh
It has been 11 months since Adesanya has competed, which is by far the longest layoff of his UFC career, which is wild when you really think about it. During his time away from the cage, he became mentally and physically healthy. “The Last Stylebender” also found his love for the sport again and feels fresh.
A healthy, motivated Adesanya is a very dangerous fighter.
Main Event(s)
Adesanya will compete in his eleventh straight main event on Saturday, while Du Plessis will compete in his second main event.
AUS vs. NZ
The co-main event sees Flyweights collide. No. 4-ranked Kara-France fights No. 7-seeded Erceg, who is coming off his unsuccessful title fight against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301.
While the fight has few stakes, they both fight for their countries: Kara-France represents New Zealand, and Erceg represents Australia.
Hometown Boy
Erceg will also have the hometown advantage as he lives and trains in Perth, Australia.
‘Don’t Blink’ Is Back!
Kara-France is returning after a 14-month layoff. He was supposed to return to action against Manel Kape at UFC 293, but was pulled from the fight after receiving a concussion.
Kara-France is riding a two-fight losing streak.
Poor ‘Gamer’
It looks like Mateusz Gamrot will have to win 5,768 fights in a row — just like Belal Muhammad — to receive a title shot or just clean out the division. Gamrot is 7-2 in the promotion and is riding a three-fight win streak.
He takes on Dan Hooker in UFC 305’s “Featured” bout.
‘Hangman’ In Australia
Speaking of Hooker, he fights in Australia for the first time since UFC 243 (Oct. 6, 2019), where he defeated Al Iaquinta via unanimous decision.
Hooker has had pretty good results when fighting the AUSNZ region, and a win over Gamrot would launch him back into the Lightweight picture. He also coming off a lengthy layoff of 13 months.
CKB
Some fighters love fighting with their teammates on the card, and one gym that enjoys that is City Kickboxing, one of the best in the world. In fact, three athletes from CKB will compete in UFC 305’s top three bouts on the PPV main card: Adesanya, Kara-France and Hooker.
Do Or Die?
While I have a hard time seeing UFC releasing Tai Tuivasa because he is a fan favorite who brings it every single time, a loss at UFC 305 will bring him to five in a row … and UFC can be ruthless at times. However, all of those losses have come against ranked Top 10-ranked Heavyweights.
Nevertheless, Tuivasa desperately needs a win this weekend. He takes on fellow knockout artist Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
But hey, the last time Tuivasa fought in Perth, he destroyed Cyril Asker.
WELCOME BACK, ‘LEECH!’
After 23 months, fan-favorite Li Jingliang returns to action. The Chinese fighter was supposed to fight last year at UFC 287; however, he pulled out because of a spine injury … and he’s been dealing with the horrifying speed bump ever since.
“Leech” is now entirely healthy and ready to jump back into the Welterweight pool. However, he has a challenging task as he fights an absolute killer in Carlos Prates.
Bros
As UFC continues to get bigger and bigger, more and more siblings are getting signed to the promotion. Of course, we know about the Diaz brothers, the Nogueira brothers and the Pettis brothers.
At UFC 305, four brothers of prominent UFC fighters compete:
Junior Tafa — brother of Justin Tafa — takes on Valter Walker (brother of Johnny Walker).
Herbert Burns — brother of Gilbert Burns — fights Jack Jenkins.
Alex Reyes — brother of Dominick Reyes — takes on Tom Nolan.
New Gym, New Fighter?
Sometimes, changing a gym is the best thing a fighter can do — it freshens up things and provides new perspective … and that’s exactly what Casey O’Neil did.
O’Neil has been with Xtreme Couture for most of her UFC career, but she packed up her things for this camp and went four hours away to Fight Ready in Arizona.
“King” is on the first two-fight losing streak of her career. She also fights in Australia for the first time in her time with UFC.
O’Neil fights Luana Santos.
Welcome To UFC!
Only one fighter is making their UFC debut at UFC 305: Stewart Nicoll (8-0).
Nicoll takes on Jesus Santos Aguilar. Nicoll comes from Beatdown Promotions and holds an 88 percent finish rate with four knockouts.
Aussies In Australia
Seven Australian-born fighters are fighting in Perth, Australia, this weekend.
Erceg
Tuivasa
Tafa
Josh Culibao
Jenkins
Tom Nolan
Nicoll
UFC 305 Fight Leader
The fighter with the most career fights competing at UFC 305 is Kara-France (36).
UFC 305 Fight Rookie
The fighter with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC 305 is Tafa (7).
UFC 305 Knockout King
The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC 305 is Adesanya (16).
UFC 305 Submission Savant
The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC 305 is Du Plessis (10).
Winners And Losers
Ten fighters are coming off wins, while 14 are coming off losses.
Multi-Divisions
Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:
Two Heavyweight fights
One Middleweight fight
Two Welterweight fights
Two Lightweight fights
Two Featherweight fights
Two Flyweight fights
One Women’s Flyweight fight
Beta Dog
According to DraftKings, the “biggest” underdog at UFC 305 is Reyes at +750.
To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 305 fight card and rumors click here.
