UFC 305 Preview: 25 Facts, Trivia, and Storylines

After a lackluster event last week, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels “Down Under” this weekend (Sat., Aug 17, 2024) to the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia for UFC 305. In the pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Dricus Du Plessis defends his middleweight title for the first time against a bitter African rival, Israel AdesanyaIn the co-main event of UFC 305, former Flyweight title challenger, Steve Ercegtakes on former interim flyweight title contender, Kai Kara-France.

UFC 305 has a lot of fun fights coming up, and it should have a fun atmosphere. So, before the UFC’s ninth pay-per-view (PPV) kicks off tomorrow night on ESPN+, let’s take a look at some random storylines, trivia, and stats for showtime…

‘City of Light’

UFC returns to Perth, Australia for the first time since UFC 284, where Islam Makhachev And Alexander Volkanovski took part in the 2023 “Fight of the Year”. In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett to claim the interim featherweight championship (watch highlights). Jack Della Maddalena was also on the map and was turned off Randy Brown in the first round (see here).

Bad blood

It’s been over a year since Adesanya and Du Plessis had their infamous staredown at UFC 290 (watch it here ). And while the fight would have been much bigger had it gone down as it was supposed to at UFC 293 (or UFC 300), there’s still some bad blood attached to it. And that’s largely due to Du Plessis’ comments about Africa. Now that “Stillknocks” holds the title, the dynamic is different.

History

For Adesanya and Du Plessis, it is the first time that two African-born athletes will meet for a title within the organization.

It kind of feels like the UFC made a mistake by not having this fight take place in… AFRICA, right?

Maybe next time…

Enemy territory

Since the fight is not taking place in Africa, Du Plessis will be entering enemy territory. While Adesanya not He is Australian and often fights in the countryside, close enough to New Zealand.

Feel fresh

It’s been 11 months since Adesanya has competed, which is by far the longest absence of his UFC career, which is wild when you really think about it. His time away from the cage has helped him become mentally and physically healthy. “The Last Stylebender” has also rekindled his love for the sport and is feeling fresh.

A healthy, motivated Adesanya is a very dangerous fighter.

Main event(s)

Adesanya will compete in his 11th straight main event on Saturday, while Du Plessis will compete in his second main event.

Australia vs New Zealand

In the co-main event, the Flyweights clash. No. 4 Kara-France battles No. 7 Erceg, who just had an unsuccessful title fight against Alexander Pantoja at UFC 301.

Although the fight has little at stake, they are both fighting for their country: Kara-France represents New Zealand and Erceg represents Australia.

Birthplace boy

Erceg also has the advantage of living and training in his hometown of Perth, Australia.

‘Don’t Blink’ is back!

Kara-France returns after a 14-month absence. He was due to return to action against Manel Kape at UFC 293, but was pulled from the bout after suffering a concussion.

Kara-France has lost two fights in a row.

Poor ‘Gamer’

It seems like Mateusz Gamrot will have to win 5,768 fights in a row, just like Belal Mohammed — to get a title shot or just sweep the division. Gamrot is 7-2 in the promotion and is riding a three-fight win streak.

He takes it up Dan Hooker in the “Featured” bout of UFC 305.

‘Hangman’ in Australia

Speaking of Hooker, he’ll be fighting for the first time since UFC 243 (October 6, 2019) in Australia, where he Al-Iaquinta by unanimous decision.

Hooker has had some decent results fighting the AUSNZ region, and a win over Gamrot would put him back in the Lightweight picture. He is also coming off a long layoff of 13 months.

CKB

Some fighters like to fight with their teammates on the card, and one gym that does this is City Kickboxing, one of the best in the world. In fact, three of CKB’s athletes will be competing in the top three fights of UFC 305 on the PPV main card: Adesanya, Kara-France and Hooker.

To do or to die?

While I find it hard to see UFC Tai Tuivasa Because he’s a fan favorite who consistently delivers, a loss at UFC 305 will make it five in a row… and UFC can be brutal at times. However, all of those losses have been against Top 10-ranked heavyweights.

Still, Tuivasa desperately needs a win this weekend as he takes on another knockout artist Jairzinho Rose Bush.

But hey, the last time Tuivasa fought in Perth he destroyed Cyril Asker.

WELCOME BACK, ‘BLOOD-DRAWER!’

Fan favorite after 23 months Li Jingliang returns to action. The Chinese fighter was scheduled to fight at UFC 287 last year, but pulled out due to a spinal injury… and he’s been battling that horrible speed bump ever since.

“Leech” is now fully healthy and ready to jump back up to welterweight. However, he has a challenging task ahead of him as he fights an absolute killer in Carlos Prates.

Brothers

As UFC continues to grow bigger and bigger, more and more brothers and sisters are joining the promotion. Of course, we know the Diaz brothers, the Nogueira brothers, and the Pettis brothers.

UFC 305 features four brothers of top UFC fighters:

• Junior Tafa — brother of Justin Tafa — takes upon himself Valter Walker (brother of Johnny Walker).
• Herbert Brandt — brother of Gilbert Brandt — fights Jack Jenkins.
• Alex Reyes — brother of Dominick Reyes — takes upon himself Tom Nolan.

New gym, new fighter?

Sometimes changing gyms is the best thing a fighter can do: it freshens things up and gives a new perspective… and that’s exactly what Casey O’Neil did.

O’Neil has been with Xtreme Couture for most of her UFC career, but for this training camp she packed up her bags and headed four hours to Fight Ready in Arizona.

“King” is on her first two-fight losing streak of her career. She is also fighting in Australia for the first time in her UFC career.

O’Neil fights Luana Santos.

Welcome to UFC!

Only one fighter will make his UFC debut at UFC 305: Stewart Nicoll (8-0).

Nicoll takes it up Jesus Santos AguilarNicoll comes from Beatdown Promotions and has an 88 percent strike rate with four knockouts.

Australians in Australia

Seven Australian-born fighters will fight this weekend in Perth, Australia.

• Erceg
• Tuivasa
• Table
• Josh Culibao
• Jenkins
• Tom Nolan
• Nicoll

UFC 305 Fight Director

The fighter with the most career fights at UFC 305 is Kara-France (36).

UFC 305 Fight Rookie

The fighter with the fewest fights in his career at UFC 305 is Tafa (7).

UFC 305 Knockout King

The fighter with the most knockouts in his career at UFC 305 is Adesanya (16).

UFC 305 Submission Expert

The fighter with the most submissions in his career at UFC 305 is Du Plessis (10).

Winners and losers

Ten fighters have won, while fourteen have lost.

Multiple divisions

These are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• Two heavyweight fights
• One middleweight fight
• Two welterweight fights
• Two lightweight fights
• Two featherweight fights
• Two flyweight fights
• One fight in women’s flyweight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, Reyes is the “biggest” underdog at UFC 305 at +750.

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