UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis looks to defend his title for the first time at UFC 305 on Saturday, in a heated match-up with ex-champ Israel Adesanya.
The racial undertones to the fight have bordered on the uncomfortable at times. Du Plessis, on his way up the division, boldly claimed to be the “real” African fighter in the UFC, by virtue of living on the continent in his native South Africa. That rubbed Adesanya, a Nigerian by birth residing in New Zealand, the wrong way, especially when factoring in Kamaru Usman (a Nigerian in the U.S.) and Francis Ngannou (originally from Cameroon, but residing in France when he became the UFC heavyweight champ).
Adesanya sparked a heated verbal spat at UFC 290, when he still held gold, following a Du Plessis win over Robert Whittaker. Dropping N-bombs and calling Du Plessis his “African brother,” the UFC might have been secretly pleased to see Sean Strickland dethrone “The Last Stylebender” on short notice months later, with Du Plessis unable to make the fight.
If nothing else, that gave them some cooling off time in what had become a potentially ugly rivalry. And now, just over a year later, it’s Du Plessis holding gold, and Adesanya looking to reclaim his spot at the top of the middleweight division.
Things might have settled down just a little, but still, Du Plessis egged Adesanya on at this week’s pre-fight press conference, accusing him of having “servants” growing up (Adesanya had previously admitted to a comfortable upbringing including a maid), bringing the ex-champ to tears.
Will the two top middleweights keep their emotions in check come the fight at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on Saturday? That’s just one of the questions heading into UFC 305. We’ve got our picks in for the main card, meanwhile – here’s how we see it going down.
| Writer / Fight | Jingliang vs. Prates | Tuivasa vs. Rozenstruik | Gamrot vs. Hooker | Erceg vs. Kara-France | Du Plessis vs. Adesanya |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Anderson (99-51) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jamie Theodosi (75-48) | | | | | |
| Alex Behunin (86-59) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (88-61) | |  | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (80-57) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (43-34) | | | | | |
| Patrick McCorry (71-62) | | | | |  |
| Cade Morehouse (58-47) | | |  | | |
It looks like we’re expecting the title to change hands at UFC 305 on Saturday, with only one writer responding picking Dricus Du Plessis to retain his championship.
Carlos Praces and Steve Erceg, meanwhile, were unanimous selections in their respective fights. Only two fighters chose Jair Rozenstruik to get past Australia’s own Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa, and but one has Dan Hooker over Mateusz Gamrot.
