UFC 305 fight card – Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya: The five biggest storylines to watch in Australia

A thrilling battle at the top of one of the sport’s most intriguing divisions headlines Saturday UFC 305 pay-per-view event from the RAC Arena In Perth, it was the promotion’s third visit to Western Australia.

Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya returns after an 11-month break, losing his title in an upset to Sean Strickland. He will now challenge current 185-pound king and arch-rival Dricus du Plessis. In the co-main event, hometown hero Steve Erceg will look to bounce back from a close flyweight title loss when he faces New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France.

As we get closer to this weekend’s event, let’s take a closer look at the biggest stories.

1. Role reversal: Adesanya goes from prey to hunter

What a difference 13 months can make in the title picture at the top of any division, let alone 185 pounds, which may be top heavy but has a handful of exciting and evenly matched fighters. Last July, Adesanya was on top of the world just three months away from avenging his knockout title loss to Alex Pereira by delivering one of the most dramatic and healing finishes in recent memory. Looking for a new contender after years at the top of the division, Adesanya found just that in Du Plessis, who knocked out former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. A colorful face-off ensued as a rivalry based on the idea of ​​crowning the UFC’s true African champion quickly began to heat up. But an injury and short turnaround for DDP put him out of title contention. Adesanya then threatened to be out for several years, if not outright retirement, while Du Plessis continued to build his global stardom by beating Strickland in a thrilling five-round bout to seize the middleweight crown in January. At 35 years old, and coming off his longest layoff since joining the UFC in 2018, Adesanya will have to pick up the pieces and climb the mountain again. If he does so, “The Last Stylebender” will become the first UFC divisional champion to regain his title twice after losing it both times (Randy Couture and Jon Jones were also three-time champions, but were stripped of the title at least once for disciplinary or contractual reasons). But it will be most interesting to see if Adesanya can regain the focus and mean streak he showed in the Pereira fight against a completely different opponent.

2. Why is this fight not on African soil?

Since Adesanya is an oceanic star living in New Zealand and the sport of MMA is still popular in Australia, it’s not a huge surprise that this bout is taking place on Australian soil (especially after the UFC signed a deal in March to bring two events to Perth each year). But the UFC is clearly missing a rare opportunity to do so with its long-awaited debut in Africa, as well as a bout between two stars born and raised on that continent (Du Plessis still lives in South Africa and Adesanya lived in Nigeria until the age of 10). While the long debate over Du Plessis’ “real African” comments that initially fueled the rivalry between the fighters has been blown out of proportion (especially by those who want to make this bout more about skin color and South Africa’s history with apartheid), no one can deny how heated this rivalry currently is. There was a time when the UFC had three reigning African champions in Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou. But now Ngannou is set to make his PFL debut in just a few months and has already been named chairman of the UFC rival’s new PFL Africa promotion. The UFC has not hesitated at every turn to try to push Ngannou, who vacated the UFC heavyweight crown on bad terms in early 2023, out of its history. Taking a big title fight to Africa before Ngannou and company could even find a foothold there would have been a powerful move on the part of the biggest and most successful promotion in combat sports.

3. Adesanya needs to prove he can handle DDP’s physicality

While never a major wrestler or submission threat, Adesanya has managed to keep the fight off the ground long enough to showcase his stellar striking during his UFC run. But it’s fair to look at his impressive run of UFC foes and realize he’s never fought another middleweight as big as Du Plessis, let alone one who combines his striking and size with his ability to hold on and punish his opponents. Jan Blachowicz might be the only exception, though that fight took place in 2021 for the UFC’s 205-pound title. Blachowicz set Adesanya up early by relying on his power jab and heavy leg strikes to set up crucial takedowns later in which his size advantage alone was enough to prevent Adesanya from getting up and gaining control in close combat. Though DDP isn’t a fighter like Blachowicz, the precedent exists. And while Adesanya has toned down his performance in recent years and become more of a pot-shot counter artist, he will need to revert to his old tricks and trade — which is what his coach, Eugene Bareman, has pointed out during preparation — to keep Du Plessis at bay, who is averaging three takedowns per 15 minutes.

4. DDP’s middleweight takeover has been as intense as it has been impressive

When Du Plessis first debuted in the UFC and began talking unabashedly about his title future, he was seen as just another fresh-faced fighter with big goals and dreams. Even some of his previous wins, including a third-round submission win over Darren Till in 2022, left us wondering if “Stillnox” was just a slugger with big ambitions but too many flaws in his game. But in the 21 months since that fight, Du Plessis has evolved by leaps and bounds. In fact, his stunning win over Robert Whittaker in July, which will be remembered for how physically he crushed the former champion, was set up beautifully by DDP’s strategic move in which he switched to the right wing early and exposed the only hole in Whittaker’s defense. Du Plessis also demonstrated his championship intangibles and five-round stamina in winning the title against Strickland, despite never having fought beyond the third round professionally before. If he continues his winning streak on Saturday, Du Plessis will have beaten Till, Derek Brunson, Whittaker, Strickland and now Adesanya in succession, including three consecutive wins over the former champion. With a pound-for-pound top 10 ranking already secured and now a chance at continued global stardom upon defeating the second-greatest fighter in divisional history, it’s hard to say where Du Plessis’ ceiling really is.

5. Is the party almost over for beer drinking legend Tai Tuivasa?

While Saturday’s undercard is nothing deep, there are plenty of things to watch on the PPV portion of the event. Namely, whether the 31-year-old Tuivasa can get the much-needed win against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and whether a loss will put an end to his entertaining UFC run. Tuivasa is big, jovial and always the life of the party, including climbing the cage after a win and drinking beer straight off the feet of his adoring fans. But Tuivasa hasn’t won in over two years and has lost four consecutive fights – all of them losses – when he returned home to fight on Australian soil. Five consecutive losses would make it difficult for the UFC to hire Tuivasa (even with Tony Ferguson’s current UFC record of eight losses). Tuivasa is spectacularly athletic, can punch hard with either hand and has one of the most remarkable abilities to absorb pain and still come back even stronger. But if recent poor performances don’t make Tuivasa need to get in better cardio shape and try to improve his raw game, then nothing will. The good news is that Rozenstruik, who is the slight betting favorite, is a very beatable opponent. It all depends on whether Tuivasa can show a hint of composure.