An exciting grudge match atop one of the sport's most intriguing divisions headlines Saturday's UFC 305 pay-per-view event from the RAC Arena in Perth, marking the promotion's third visit to western Australia.
Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya returns from an 11-month layoff after losing his title via upset to Sean Strickland when he challenges current 185-pound king -- and bitter rival -- Dricus du Plessis. In the co-main event, hometown hero Steve Erceg looks to bounce back from a close flyweight title defeat when he welcomes New Zealand's Kai Kara-France.
As we draw closer to this weekend's event, let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines.
1. Role reversal: Adesanya goes from hunted back to hunter
What a difference 13 months can make in the title picture atop any division, let alone 185 pounds, which might be top heavy but features a small handful of exciting and evenly matched fighters. Last July, Adesanya was on top of the world just three months removed from avenging his knockout title loss to Alex Pereira by delivering one of the most dramatic and therapeutic finishes in recent memory. In search of a fresh contender after years atop the division, Adesanya found just that in du Plessis, who had just knocked out former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. A colorful face off followed as a rivalry, built loosely upon the idea of crowning UFC's true African champion, began to quickly heat up. But an injury and short turnaround for DDP pulled him from the title shot and Adesanya, who stubbornly forced the UFC to hold his original fight date, appeared flat and disconnected in the upset decision loss to Strickland that followed in September. Adesanya threatened a multi-year layoff, if not outright retirement, in the aftermath while du Plessis only continued to build his global star by edging out Strickland in a five-round thriller to seize the middleweight crown in January. At 35, and fresh off his longest layoff since joining the UFC in 2018, Adesanya must pick up the pieces and climb the mountain all over again. If he does, "The Last Stylebender" would become the first UFC divisional champion to regain his title twice after losing both times (Randy Couture and Jon Jones were also three-time champions but were stripped at least once for disciplinary or contractual reasons). But it will be most interesting to see whether Adesanya can recapture the focus and mean streak he conjured up in the Pereira fight against an entirely different opponent.
2. How is this fight not on African soil?
With Adesanya being an Oceanic star who resides in New Zealand and the sport of MMA still on fire down under, it isn't a huge surprise that this fight is taking place on Australian soil (especially after UFC signed a deal in March to bring two events per year to Perth). But UFC is clearly missing out on a rare opportunity to not just make its long-awaited debut in Africa but do so in a fight between two stars born and raised on that continent (du Plessis still lives in South Africa and Adesanya lived in Nigeria until age 10). While the extended debate over du Plessis' "real African" comments, which initially fueled the rivalry between fighters, have been a bit overblown (especially by those looking to make this matchup more about skin color and South Africa's history with apartheid), no one can argue with how hot this rivalry currently is. There was once a time when UFC had three reigning African champions in Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou. But Ngannou is now set to make his PFL debut in a few months and has already been named the chairman of the UFC rival's new PFL Africa promotion. UFC hasn't shied away at just about every turn from trying to write Ngannou, who vacated the UFC heavyweight crown on bad terms in early 2023, out of their history. Taking a massive title fight to Africa before Ngannou and company can even get their footing would've been a power move from the biggest and most successful promotion in combat sports.
3. Adesanya must prove he can deal with the physicality of DDP
Although never much of a grappler or submission threat, Adesanya has long succeeded in keeping fights off of the ground in order to showcase his sublime striking throughout much of his UFC run. But it's fair to look back on his impressive run of UFC foes and realize he has never fought another middleweight as large as du Plessis, let alone one who combines his striking and size with an ability to hold down his opponents and make them pay. Jan Blachowicz might be the lone exception, although that fight took place for the UFC's 205-pound title in 2021. Blachowicz set Adesanya up early by relying on his power jab and heavy leg strikes to set up key takedowns late in which his mere size advantage alone was enough to prevent Adesanya from getting up and regaining control in a close fight. While DDP isn't the same fighter as Blachowicz, the precedent is there. And with Adesanya lowering his output in recent years and becoming more of a pot-shot counter artist, he is going to need to dial back to his tricks and trade of old -- which is something his coach, Eugene Bareman, has teased in the buildup -- in order to keep du Plessis, who averages three takedowns landed per 15 minutes, off of him.
4. DDP's middleweight takeover has been as swift as it has been impressive
When du Plessis first made his UFC debut and boldly began to pontificate about his title future, he was seen as just another fresh-faced fighter with big goals and dreams. Even some of his earlier victories, including a third-round submission of Darren Till as recently as 2022, left us wondering whether "Stillknocks" was just a slugger with huge ambition but too many holes in his game. But in the 21 months since that fight, du Plessis has evolved at an alarmingly rapid pace. In fact, his breakthrough victory over Robert Whittaker in July, which will be remembered for how much he physically steamrolled the former champion, was set up so beautifully by DDP's strategic move to switch southpaw early and expose the lone hole in Whittaker's defense. Du Plessis also flexed his championship intangibles and five-round stamina in winning the title against Strickland despite having previously never fought past the third round as a professional. Should he continue his win streak on Saturday, du Plessis will have beaten Till, Derek Brunson, Whittaker, Strickland and now Adesanya in succession, which would include three straight wins over former champions. With a pound-for-pound top 10 ranking already secured and now the chance at continued global stardom should he best the second greatest fighter in divisional history, there's no telling where du Plessis' ceiling actually is.
5. Is the party almost over for beer-slugging heavyweight Tai Tuivasa?
Although Saturday's undercard is anything but deep, there are a number of things to watch for on the PPV portion of the event. Namely, whether the 31-year-old Tuivasa can score a much-needed win against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and whether a loss would mark the end of his entertaining UFC run. Tuivasa is large, jubilant and always the life of the party, including when he climbs the cage after victories to drink beer directly from a shoe off the foot of his adoring fans. But Tuivasa hasn't won in over two years and brings a devastating four-fight losing streak -- all by stoppage -- into his return back home to fight on Australian soil. Five straight defeats would make it hard for UFC to justify keeping Tuivasa employed (even with Tony Ferguson's current UFC record of eight losses still intact). Tuivasa is sneaky athletic, packs a huge punch in both hands and has one of the most remarkable abilities to absorb pain and still keep coming back even stronger. But if the recent bad run isn't a wakeup call for Tuivasa to get in better cardio shape and actually attempt to round out his raw game, nothing ever will be. The good news is that the up-and-down Rozenstruik, who is a slight betting favorite, is a very beatable opponent. It all comes down to whether Tuivasa can show just a hint of restraint.
