UFC 305 will occur in Perth, Australia, where fans will see the highly anticipated matchup between middleweight royalty. South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis has yet to lose in his UFC career, launching him into the belt after only seven octagon fights. To claim the belt, Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in a split decision. That hand raise engaged Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya, who lost the belt to Strickland by unanimous decision 133 days prior.
Dricus Du Plessis motivated Adesanya not only with his fight performance but also with his words. Du Plessis claimed he was the ‘first true African champion’, criticizing former champions like Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou for not training in their home continent. Adesanya responded to the claim at a UFC 305 press conference.
It’s almost like destiny because we met in Thailand… It’s like full circle, back where it all started for me. Again, he tried to discredit the three kings and say that he’s the real true African champion. And I was just, like, it’s a weird mindset, bro.
Like he came in the UFC… I just said, ‘Cool, he’s another African in the UFC.’ But then him discrediting me, Francis Ngannou, and Kamaru Usman, that ticked me off a little bit. So that’s what started this. But again, I’ll finish it.
Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya Tale of the Tape
| Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ Du Plessis | Israel ‘Stylebender’ Adesanya | |
| 21-2-0 | Record | 24-3-0 |
| 7-0 | UFC Record | 13-3 |
| 30 | Age | 35 |
| 6’1 | Height | 6’4 |
| 76″ | Reach | 80″ |
| CIT Performance Institute | Team | City Kickboxing |
| Switch | Fighting Stance | Switch |
| 9W | Streak | 1L |
Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Statistical Comparison
| Dricus Du Plessis | Israel Adesanya | |
| 6.49 | Significant Strikes Landed per Minute | 3.95 |
| 50% | Striking Accuracy | 51.68% |
| 4.77 | Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute | 3.11 |
| 55% | Striking Defense | 56% |
| 3.00 | Takedown Average | .05 |
| 51% | Takedown Accuracy | 14.29% |
| 40% | Takedown Defense | 77% |
| .8 per 15 mins | Submission Average | .1 per 15 mins |
| 11:27 | Average Fight Time | 18:16 |
Dricus Du Plessis’s Last Fight
In his last fight, Dricus Du Plessis earned his middleweight UFC championship belt against Sean Strickland. The win came by a split decision with many questions from UFC fans. Strickland out-struck Du Plessis 183 to 140, attempting 61 more total strikes. Many of Strickland’s strikes took place in the first and final rounds, as Du Plessis turned up his output nearly round over round.
The significant strike numbers leaned much in Strickland’s favor. Landing 173 significant strikes on 408 attempts left Strickland with an impressive 42% landing rate. Du Plessis landed his fair share of significant strikes, though his 137 of 354 paled when compared to Strickland. Sean Strickland dominated from distance, landing 100% of his significant strikes from range.
The fight was made a battle through Dricus Du Plessis simply out-leveling Strickland in the clinch. Through the five-round fight ‘Stillknocks’ took Sean Strickland down six times on eleven attempts, securing two minutes and eight seconds of control time. The fight gave everyone who watched it a different scorecard, but for the three judges, the win went toward Dricus Du Plessis.
Israel Adesanya’s Last Fight
The ‘Stylebender’ failed to reach similar results as Du Plessis in his last fight, losing a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland. The fight was not close in terms of output, as Strickland landed 43 more strikes than Adesanya.
“Strickland entered the fight with the best strike defense among active middleweights at 62.4%. Unofficially, Strickland defended 65% of Adesanya’s strikes throughout the five rounds and caused Adesanya to land just 24 of 178 head strike attempts, (14%) according to ESPN Stats & Information.”
Adesanya’s loss at UFC 293 was an upset of historic proportion in the middleweight division, with Strickland closing at +500 betting odds.
The Unpredictability Of UFC 305
Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya have both earned UFC gold in the middleweight division by being ever-evolving fighters. Du Plessis will likely look to make the fight messy, incorporating dirty boxing and wrestling to exhaust and hurt Adesanya. As for the ‘Stylebender,’ it is likely he will stick to distance strikes. Using leg kicks like his jab, Adesanya has a knack for finding the off-switch on opponents once the window opens (16 career knockouts).
Given the sheer talent and disputes between Du Plessis and Adesanya, any expectations can be thrown out of the window and replaced by anticipation.
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