UFC 305 is finally here and the main event of the night will see Dricus du Plessis putting his UFC middleweight title on the line against Israel Adesanya at the RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday.
Other notable fights on the card include lightweight's Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg facing off, while in the heavyweight division, we have Tai Tuivasa taking on Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname.
Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya preview
© Imago
While the undercard for this pay-per-view has a few mouth-watering bouts lined up, none come close to the main event, where Dricus du Plessis will be defending his UFC middleweight title for the first time.
Oftentimes, fighters build up a storyline in the lead-up to a title match, but this bout feels much different, as you can genuinely see the dislike between these two fighters, which ramps up the excitement from a viewers perspective.
What we have here is two fighters with exceptional records, starting with the champion, Dricus 'Stillknocks' Du Plessis, who has a professional record of 21-2-0 and a UFC resume that reads as 7-0-0 - still undefeated in the promotion.
In terms of the tale of the tape, DDP is five years younger than Adesanya but is the shorter of the two at 1.85m compared to 1.93m, and the champion also has a reach disadvantage, with a wingspan of 193cm versus the challenger's 203.2cm.
However, do not let those figures fool you, as the South African is as tough as nails, and has no problem making up for his height disadvantage by getting up close and personal with his opponents.
We saw exactly that when DDP won the title against Sean Strickland earlier this year, where he walked down the former champion and caught him with a nasty right hook that opened a cut above his eye, and was arguably the turning point in the match.
© Imago
The bad blood between these fighters really ramped up after Izzy, thanks to Dana White's knack for stirring storylines, appeared in the octagon during Du Plessis's victory celebration after beating the odds to knock out Robert Whittaker to become the number-one contender.
The face-off that ensued went on to become more memorable than the fight that just ended and Adesanya calling DDP his 'African brother', to which the champion replied, "I'm African, but I ain't no brother of yours, son," has since become the slogan of this blockbuster matchup.
In these two fighters, you could hardly get more contrasting styles, with Du Plessis being one of the most awkward seen in the division compared to The Last Stylebender, whose precision and athleticism are elite.
However, the big question for the two-time champion, who is now 24-3-0, is whether he is in the sort of condition to take on a fighting champion after a year out of action, especially having turned 35 last month.
Nevertheless, Izzy is likely to try and attack the South African's front leg to slow him down from pressing, which is something that The Last Stylebender struggled to cope with against Strickland in their rematch.
Still, if there is one thing that DDP has proven during his rise to the top, it is that he does not back down, even when he is hurt, and his cardio is massively underrated because of his unorthodox style and big-bodied movements.
Tale of the tape
© Imago
Dricus Du Plessis
AGE: 30
NICKNAME: "Stillknocks"
HEIGHT: 6ft 1ins
REACH: 76ins
STANCE: Orthodox
TRAINER: Morne Visser
FIGHTS: 23
WINS: 21
DRAWS: 0
DEFEATS: 2
LAST FIGHT: Split-decision vs. Sean Strickland (January 2024)
© Imago
Israel Adesanya
AGE: 35
NICKNAME: "The Last Stylebender"
HEIGHT: 6ft 4ins
REACH: 80ins
STANCE: Orthodox
TRAINER: Eugene Bareman
FIGHTS: 27
WINS: 24
DRAWS: 0
DEFEATS: 3
LAST FIGHT: Unanimous decision vs. Sean Strickland (September 2023)
Career records
Dricus Du Plessis
Rank: Champion
Total: 23
Wins: 21
By knockout: 9
By submission : 10
By decision: 2
Losses: 2
By knockout: 1
By submission: 1
Israel Adesanya
Rank: #2
Total: 27
Wins: 24
By knockout: 16
By decision: 8
Losses: 3
By knockout: 1
By decision: 2
We say: Dricus Du Plessis to win
This has all the makings of being one of the greatest middleweight title fights in the history of the UFC, as we prepare to see two of Africa's best MMA fighters go toe-to-toe for the gold.
Adesanya has seen and done it all before, but his time away from the ring does create a few concerns around his conditioning to take on Du Plessis, whose awkward style is perhaps his greatest asset, as it makes him a very difficult opponent to prepare for.
There are genuine arguments to be made for both of these warriors in this match, but we are giving the edge to the fighting champion to defend his title.
Devesh Jaganath
