Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya will be UFC 305's main event in Perth
The middleweights have tried to fight two previous times
UFC 305 in Australia has its main event.
Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title against former champion Israel Adesanya on Aug. 17 in Perth at RAC Arena. The South African fighter, 30, won the championship at UFC 297 in January, earning a split decision over Sean Strickland. His UFC record is 7–0 with an overall 21–2 mark in MMA.
Adesanya, 34, is currently No. 2 in the UFC middleweight rankings. He has a 13–3 record in the UFC and 24–3 mark in MMA overall.
EXCLUSIVE: UFC President @danawhite confirms Israel Adesanya will fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 on August 17th in Perth. pic.twitter.com/mUkcGPGxaK
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) June 17, 2024
UFC president Dana White officially confirmed the bout on Monday's edition of "The Jim Rome Show" after both Du Plessis and Adesanya indicated the matchup would occur on their individual social media accounts.
☀️🌍🌘
The SUN of Africa is the same sun that lights up our planet.
The SUN will set and will rise again until you walk into it. 🌅
The SUN, enjoy while it shines. Darkness falls when it’s gone. pic.twitter.com/u5Swlzr6TW— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) June 17, 2024
The two fighters have a feud going back to their confrontation at UFC 290 after Du Plessis defeated Robert Whittaker. But previous attempts to arrange a match fell through.
They were scheduled to fight at last September's UFC 293, but Du Plessis had to pull out of the bout due to an injured foot. They then planned to face each other at UFC 300 in April, but Du Plessis again bowed out, citing injuries to both legs that he suffered in his previous bout with Strickland.
Apparently, the third time is the charm. If Adesanya wins, he'll join Randy Couture as the only UFC fighters who have won titles three times in the same division.
The other three fights currently scheduled for UFC 305 are flyweight bouts featuring Steve Erceg vs. Kai Kara-France and Tereza Bleda vs. Casey O'Neill, in addition to a lightweights Tom Nolan and Alex Reyes facing off.