UFC 305 picks and predictions

Check out who we think will win at UFC 305 this weekend.

Will the Last StyleBender be the new champ (again)? Art by Chris Rini

The UFC is in Perth, Australia this weekend with a card that is… not bad. The main event is genuinely fascinating, with Israel Adesanya returning from a hiatus to fight his ‘African brother’ Dricus du Plessis. That will be for Du Plessis’ UFC middleweight title, a belt Adesanya held and defended to some acclaim.

The co-main event is Steve Erceg, who is fresh from letting the UFC flyweight title slip from his grasp in Rio. He’ll be taking on Kai Kara-France. There’s also Tai Tuivasa vs. Jarziniho Rozentruik, Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker and Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates.

As always, we’ve looked over the tape, record, stats, yada yada yada, and provided our picks below. Scroll down to see who we think is going to win in each of these matches. And if you’re using this information for betting, please do so responsibly.

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Dricus du Plessis (-105) vs. Israel Adesanya (-115)

Dayne: It could be argued Adesanya doesn’t deserve this shot given he’s lost two of his last three, but there’s been heat between these two for quite a while and the UFC needed someone with Australian ties to headline this card. Thus, we all knew this fight was going to happen. 

Du Plessis was considered a fine prospect when he was signed, but few thought he would become champion. His technique was anything but clean and he always appeared to slow. Those flaws appeared to carry over to the UFC, but he’s managed to avoid losing and even securing late finishes on several occasions. Du Plessis has managed to continue to improve, his unorthodox style proving difficult for his opponents to figure out. There’s more film on him than ever and Adesanya is a smart fighter, so maybe he figures him out. After all, Adesanya says he’s feeling recovered after some time away. Then again, Adesanya has been saying a lot of things as of late.

I will never deny Adesanya was a dominant champion…