The UFC returns to Perth, Australia with the UFC 305 pay-per-view event taking place at the RAC Arena. The card features a much-hyped middleweight title headliner between current champion Dricus du Plessis and former champion Israel Adesanya. The co-main event, meanwhile, is a flyweight battle between Kai Kara-France and recent title challenger Steve Erceg.
With plenty of other great fights, let’s take a look at all of the action taking place this weekend.
UFC 305 Prelim Card
Flyweights kick off the action as Stewart Nicoll battles Jesus Aguilar. Expect Nicoll to remain undefeated and improve to 9-0.
Song Kenan takes on Rick Glenn in a welterweight scrap next. Song should edge this one and get the victory.
Tom Nolan scraps with Alex Reyes in a lightweight encounter. Nolan is a massive favorite and should come out victorious in this affair.
Featherweights are also in action as Jack Jenkins meets Herbert Burns. Jenkins is another massive favorite and is likely to win this one.
Casey O'Neill takes on Luana Santos in a women’s flyweight bout. It should be a close one with Santos just about edging it.
Joshua Culibao meets Ricardo Ramos in a featherweight tilt. This is another fight that could be very competitive, but Culibao should come out on top.
The featured prelim sees Junior Tafa collide with Valter Walker in a heavyweight contest. Despite Walker being the more experienced fighter, Tafa is just about favored to emerge victorious to his local fans.
Bet On UFC 305
UFC 305 Main Card
Jingliang (19-8) vs Prates (19-6)
The main card kicks off with some welterweight action as Li Jingliang takes on Carlos Prates. Jingliang hasn't competed since getting outpointed by Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279 back in September 2022. Prior to that, he alternated between wins and losses but did hold knockout victories over Muslim Salikhov and Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Prates, meanwhile, is looking to continue his winning run. He has won his last nine fights in a row and is 2-0 in the UFC with knockouts over Trevin Giles and Charlie Radtke. Jingliang will be a big step up for Prates, but the Brazilian should emerge victorious nonetheless.
Tuivasa (15-7) vs Rozenstruik (14-5)
A big heavyweight collision takes place as Tai Tuivasa battles Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Tuivasa is in desperate need of a win as he has lost his last four fights in a row getting finished in each of them. His most recent loss was a submission defeat to Marcin Tybura in March.
Rozenstruik is also looking for a win, but to enter his first winning streak since 2019. The former kickboxer last competed in March where he earned a TKO win over Shamil Gaziev. Overall, however, he has only won two of his last five and he really needs a statement win if he is to enter title contention again.
Luckily for Rozenstruik, the oddsmakers see him getting the win and victory on points seems likely. If you are a believer in Tuivasa, the fact that he moved back to Dubai –where he charged up the rankings to #3 contender—to get away from his home country distractions and focus on his fight camp. Heavy punches will be thrown, and I think we could see Tai back on top and enjoying a shoey celebration in Australia.
Gamrot (24-2, 1NC) vs Hooker (23-12)
An intriguing lightweight encounter is also on the cards as Mateusz Gamrot battles Dan Hooker. Gamrot is on a three-fight winning streak following victories over Jalin Turner, Rafael Fiziev and Rafael dos Anjos. Overall, he has won seven of his last eight. However, a defeat to Beneil Dariush put an end to his momentum. That said, an impressive win against Hooker could catapult him into title contention.
Hooker is looking for the same path. The Kiwi is on a two-fight winning streak after wins over Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner. A win against Gamrot would not only kickstart his first three-fight winning streak since 2020, but also move him high up in the rankings to potentially get one last shot at challenging for the title for the first time.
Hooker’s striking is always dangerous but that said, Gamrot is a big favorite and his wrestling should be enough to neutralize Hooker and earn a hard-fought decision over three rounds.
Kara-France (24-11, 1NC) vs Erceg (12-2)
The co-main event sees Kai Kara-France return to action against Steve Erceg. Kara-France last competed in June when he suffered a split decision defeat to Amir Albazi. It followed his TKO defeat to Brandon Moreno in their interim flyweight title fight. Overall, he's on a two-fight losing skid having previously been on a three-fight winning streak.
Erceg, meanwhile, is coming off his first UFC defeat after getting outpointed by flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in their title fight in May. Overall, he is 3-1 in the UFC now and while a rematch with Pantoja seems unlikely, it was still a close fight and beating Kara-France would maintain Erceg’s position as a title contender once again. It looks like he will do that as well as he is favored by the bookies to come out on top. Don’t count out “Don’t Blink” Kara-France who is a live play in the underdog position.
du Plessis (21-2) vs Adesanya (24-3)
The headliner sees Dricus du Plessis defend his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya in what is a grudge match between the pair with no love lost. Du Plessis was originally supposed to challenge Adesanya for the strap last year, but injury prevented him from doing so. And so, in stepped Sean Strickland who shocked the world and defeated Adesanya to become the new champion.
Du Plessis would go on to outpoint Strickland by split decision in a close fight in January to become the new 185-pound champion. The fighter out of South Africa remains undefeated in the UFC with a 7-0 record and will now look to earn arguably the biggest win of his career yet by defeating Adesanya.
Adesanya, meanwhile, will be returning after his longest absence since signing with the UFC. After getting outpointed by Strickland in September last year, “The Last Stylebender” returns to action after 11 months and a much-needed break having competed at least twice every year since 2019. Prior to that, he got revenge on Alex Pereira by knocking him out to become a two-time middleweight champion. Overall, the fighter out of New Zealand has won four of his last six and has only suffered two defeats in 15 middleweight fights.
How the layoff affects him remains to be seen, but given the rest and the stylistic matchup, it’s hard to see Adesanya not emerging victorious as he is the slightest of favorites. Perhaps unmotivated to fight Strickland, Israel looks up for this fight. I like Adesanya to put on a striking clinic in and catch the champ late in the fight for a stoppage to reclaim the middleweight strap.
