UFC 305 headliner Israel Adesanya made an emphatic return to the middleweight throne at the expense of a longtime rival in April 2023. The former two-time champion will return in the main event of this weekend’s pay-per-view card at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, where he’s tasked with regaining the belt once again in a grudge […]
Adesanya previously lost and won back the 185-pound strap in a two-fight series with his former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira. After losing two contests to him in the striking-only sport, “The Last Stylebender” fell to 0-3 when “Poatan” rallied to score a fifth-round knockout at the Madison Square Garden-held UFC 281.
But the Nigerian-New Zealander broke his Pereira curse five months later in their second MMA dance at UFC 287 in Miami, brutally knocking the Brazilian out in round two to deliver a highlight for the ages and MMA News’ KO of the Year award for 2023.
Ahead of Saturday’s event, the promotion has released the full Adesanya vs. Pereira rematch fight from UFC 287 on its official YouTube channel.
Adesanya will look to deliver a similar statement-making performance when making his comeback this weekend.
Having had his second reign brought to a shock end at the hands of Sean Strickland last September, “The Last Stylebender” has the chance to show that he’s far from done by adding the first blemish to the currently perfect UFC record of champ Du Plessis.
Sharing the Octagon with both ahead of this weekend’s middleweight title fight, former champion, Robert Whittaker has claimed Saturday’s…
Sharing the Octagon with both ahead of this weekend’s middleweight title fight, former champion, Robert Whittaker has claimed Saturday’s clash between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya is very much a “50-50” pairing between the duo.
Whittaker, the current number three ranked middleweight challenger and a former undisputed titleholder, has been sidelined since he took main event honors at UFC Saudi Arabia back in June, stopping Ikram Aliskerov with a dominant opening round knockout win.
And already slated to make his return in a title-eliminator clash, Whittaker is set to draw the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev in a five round co-main event at UFC 308 in October, returning to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Robert Whittaker offers prediction for UFC 305 title fight
“If I had to make a pick, I’d say that there’s a 50% chance, this is my confidence here,” Robert Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast. “I’m sitting on the fence, but I mean it. There’s a 50-50 odds. That’s how much I think either one could sway. I think there’s a 50% chance that Izzy (Israel Adesanya) kind of keeps him at the end of his jab, utilizes that spacing, doesn’t get his back put against the fence. Defends some takedowns but ultimately wins by decision.”
“I also think there’s a 50% chance Dricus (du Plessis) does what he did to (Sean) Stirkcland, pushes into that space, takes him down, wears him out, turns it into a dog fight,” Robert Whittaker explained. “Doesn’t get a finish, but drags it out to the point where he’s still going to remain the champion.”
UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen believes the result of Dricus Du Plessis’ upcoming first title defense will be determined by which version of Israel Adesanya shows up. Seven months on from reaching the throne with his perfect UFC record intact, Du Plessis will look to add another achievement to his ever-growing résumé on mixed martial […]
UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen believes the result of Dricus Du Plessis’ upcoming first title defense will be determined by which version of Israel Adesanya shows up.
Seven months on from reaching the throne with his perfect UFC record intact, Du Plessis will look to add another achievement to his ever-growing résumé on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage by successfully defending the title for the first time.
To do so, the South African is tasked with stalling the three-time ambitions of Adesanya in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 305 pay-per-view, set for the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
In the lead-up to his comeback from an 11-month layoff post-shock defeat to Sean Strickland, Adesanya has dismissed regaining the 185-pound gold as being his focus, instead stating that he’s back to “take heads.”
Whatever his motivation is, Allen thinks it has to be strong enough to bring back the formidable Adesanya who got the better of names like Alex Pereira and Paulo Costa if he’s to have his hand raised on August 17…
Allen On Du Plessis vs. Adesanya: ‘If It’s The Motivated Izzy…’
The #7-ranked contender suggested the result will be determined by which iteration of Adesanya returns to action. Rejuvenated and motivated? ‘And new’. Lackluster? ‘And still’.
“To be honest, I really don’t care (who wins). I don’t like either one of them,” Allen told MMA News. “I’m gonna watch it, of course, because I want to see. But I don’t care. I think we’ll see what Izzy comes back and how he’s been. I think that’s a big tell; what Izzy comes back. Is it a resurged, re-energized Izzy? Or is it like, ‘I don’t know if I wanna be here.’ It’s easy to talk it, it’s easy to watch it, it’s easy to fake it. But you can’t fake it when it’s fight time. That’s the only time we’ll know for sure.
“Obviously Dricus is super confident. He’s at the height of his career. He’s insanely confident, insanely lucky,” Allen continued. “I don’t know, man. I don’t really care who wins. To me, it just depends which Izzy comes back. if it’s the motivated Izzy, I would say Izzy. If it’s the Izzy that fought like, Paulo or Alex the last time, that Izzy is a tough Izzy to beat, man. … If it’s the lackluster one, i don’t think he’s gonna win. Dricus is just gonna keep pushing the pace.”
But before attention on the middleweight division turns to that co-headliner in the French capital this fall, all eyes are on the impending grudge match between Du Plessis and Adesanya Down Under.
UFC 305 headliners Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya will be the latest to enter the Octagon with custom-designed fight gear. For a while, featherweight contender Bryce Mitchell marked the only athlete who made the walk in custom shorts, donning his camouflage gear to the cage. This year, however, the promotion and its uniform partner […]
UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley was the first in 2024, receiving bright pink shorts for his title defense against Marlon Vera in Miami this past March. The following month, Alex Pereira, Zhang Weili, Justin Gaethje, and Max Holloway all wore custom kits at the milestone UFC 300 event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
Dustin Poirier was next with floral shorts at UFC 302, while UFC 303 later in June saw Ian Garry in purple gear. Last month, meanwhile, saw Leon Edwards and Paddy Pimblett given custom gear for their home fights at UFC 304 in Manchester.
The initiative shows no signs of slowing, and the latest reveal ahead of the UFC 305 pay-per-view has displayed the shorts that will be worn by Du Plessis and Adesanya as they duke it out for the middleweight championship.
“Stillknocks” and “The Last Stylebender” will look to settle their grudge from last year when they headline this weekend’s event in Perth, Australia.
While they top the lineup with gold on the line, the likes of former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg, lightweight fan favorite Dan Hooker, and hard-hitting heavyweight Tai Tuivasa will also be among those in action.
MMA Fans React To Du Plessis, Adesanya’s Custom UFC 305 Shorts: ‘Best Ones So Far’
Plenty in the mixed martial arts community flocked to social media to give their thoughts on the latest custom shorts. And by the looks of things, the designs went down well…
Robert Whittaker has his eyes firmly set on the upcoming middleweight title clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, which will headline UFC 305, and for good reason. Recently, he shared his thoughts on how this highly anticipated bout might unfold. “Stillknocks” is poised to put his middleweight title on the line for the […]
Robert Whittaker has his eyes firmly set on the upcoming middleweight title clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, which will headline UFC 305, and for good reason. Recently, he shared his thoughts on how this highly anticipated bout might unfold.
“Stillknocks” is poised to put his middleweight title on the line for the first time in a rivalry-fueled showdown against Adesanya, scheduled for this weekend at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
Du Plessis was initially lined up to face Adesanya following his knockout win over Whittaker at UFC 290 in July 2023. However, destiny intervened, as an injury sidelined the undefeated South African contender. Meanwhile, “The Last Stylebender” suffered a shocking loss, surrendering his title to Strickland at UFC 293 last September.
Du Plessis marked his victorious comeback by edging out Strickland in a split decision, capturing the 185-pound title at UFC 297 this past January. With renewed confidence, he has boldly declared his belief that he will defeat Adesanya, who is returning to the Octagon after an 11-month self-imposed hiatus—the longest break of his UFC career.
Having squared off against both UFC 305 main eventers—especially Adesanya, whom he’s faced twice—”The Reaper” possesses a rare perspective on the hurdles each will likely face when they clash in the Octagon this Saturday night…
Whittaker Predicts Adesanya’s Lessons From Strickland Loss Could Affect Du Plessis Bout
During a recent appearance on the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker delved into the upcoming clash between Du Plessis and Adesanya, noting that it’s hard for him to predict a clear winner. The former UFC middleweight champion pointed out that both fighters last stepped into the Octagon against Strickland, but their contrasting strategies led to very different results.
“I guess it’s very hard to put a hard pick on either one of them,” Whittaker said. “But I’ll say all we can look at is historically, like their previous fights. Dricus, in his last fight against Strickland, moved forward, put pressure on Strickland, didn’t let Strickland do that to him, shut his game down, was very aggressive, created that space, and didn’t let Strickland really find the rhythm that he likes to fight in.
Strickland, prior to that fight, fought Adesanya and did exactly that to Israel—pushed into his space and didn’t allow Adesanya to utilize that dangerous space that he likes fighting in. He crowded him to a point where he didn’t let him have any free distancing from the fence so that he could move away. He kept Adesanya’s back to the fence for 90% of the fight and beat Adesanya by decision.”
“The Reaper” went on to highlight that a pivotal aspect of this fight will be whether Adesanya has fine-tuned his skills during his time off after the loss to Strickland. He noted that it will be crucial to see if Adesanya can effectively counter Du Plessis’ relentless pressure and close-quarters exchanges.
“Dricus was able to push that plan against Strickland that Strickland was able to push against Adesanya, so you would have to think Dricus is going to push that same plan on Adesanya. And I guess the million-dollar question is, what has Izzy done in his layoff since the Strickland fight to make sure that doesn’t happen again? Because you can bet your bottom dollar Dricus is going to push into that.”
The UFC is headed back down under this weekend for UFC 305 which takes place in Perth, Australia on August 17. As expected, there’s a lot of Australasian representatives on the card in some big fights and that’s certainly the case for heavyweight fan favorite Tai Tuivasa. The Aussie slugger was on a great run […]
The UFC is headed back down under this weekend for UFC 305 which takes place in Perth, Australia on August 17.
As expected, there’s a lot of Australasian representatives on the card in some big fights and that’s certainly the case for heavyweight fan favorite Tai Tuivasa.
The Aussie slugger was on a great run of results heading into his main event clash with Ciryl Gane in September of 2022, following five consecutive stoppage victories.
Alexander Volkanovski Picks Tai Tuivasa To Bounce Back In A Big Way At UFC 305
Tuivasa is set to meet fellow heavyweight striker and knockout artist Jairzinho Rozenstruik this weekend as top 15 heavyweights throw down in Perth.
During his recent breakdown of the card, former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski predicted a big win for Tuivasa to silence the critics.
He highlighted how despite “Bam Bam” coming in as the underdog this time around, he’s in a good position to cause an upset with his back against the wall and the Australian fans behind him.
“Home crowd, against a striker, I like them odds. I like them odds. Again, Rozenstruik is an incredible striker, I think he did a lot of kickboxing even before UFC so he’s no easy fight but I mean I feel like Tai Tuivasa is going to come out and land a finish. I think he can get the big KO finish. He’s due for one so I’m going to go ‘Bam Bam’. Again, everyone loves ‘Bam Bam’ and another way to keep this big day of fights in Perth rolling is a big ‘Bam Bam’ knockout and shoey afterwards.”
Sharing the Octagon with both ahead of this weekend’s middleweight title fight, former champion, Robert Whittaker has claimed Saturday’s…
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