Dricus Du Plessis, Israel Adesanya Booked For UFC 305
The long-awaited grudge match between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya is booked for UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. The UFC middleweight title will be on the line. UFC 305 will take place on August 17.
Adesanya announced the bout on Instagram. UFC journalist Marcel Dorff confirmed the news with representation from both fighter’s teams.
The UFC 305 main event has been in the making for over a year. Du Plessis and Adesanya have had serious beef since UFC 285. The animosity sparked when Du Plessis discussed being the first UFC champion to live and train in Africa while discrediting previous UFC champions for no longer living in the continent. That did not sit well with Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou.
At UFC 290, Du Plessis picked up a massive win over Robert Whittaker to become the next title challenger. That resulted in a face-off between Du Plessis and Adesanya. The face-off was a sneak peek into how crazy the build-up to this fight could be.
The Du Plessis and Adesanya bout did not immediately take place, however. A foot injury prevented Du Plessis from making the quick turnaround and the fight went to Sean Strickland instead. That greatly alternated the division as Strickland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history to take the belt from Adesanya. Shortly after, Du Plessis took the belt off of Strickland to become the champion.
Du Plessis and Adesanya are now booked after more than a year of build-up and anticipation.
The bout will be Adesanya’s return to MMA after stating he would take a long break from MMA. Ultimately, that break ended up being just short of a year as he last fought in September of 2023.
For Du Plessis, this will be an opportunity to defend his title for the first time while taking out the division’s former champion. A trio of wins over Adesanya, Strickland, and Whittaker would suddenly provide the South African with an impressive resume.
The middleweight title bout is the only main card fight that is official for UFC 305. At the moment, there are only two other confirmed bouts. Both of which will more than likely be prelims. As for the main card, there is a laundry list of rumors circulating about some of the biggest names in Australian MMA. That includes Kai-Kara France, Steve Erceg, and Dan Hooker. The rumor mill has included Jack Della Maddalena to a lesser extent, but he is likely unavailable as he nurses an arm injury.
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