UFC 305 live blog: Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya

Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya face off ahead of UFC 305 | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

This is the UFC 305 live blog for Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, the main event middleweight title fight this Saturday in Perth, Australia.

A former KSW welterweight champion, du Plessis has been a revelation since joining the UFC in 2020, earning seven straight wins with five finishes. The most recent of those victories was his middleweight title triumph over Sean Strickland back in January. Now du Plessis has the chance to solidify his hold on the 185-pound weight class with a victory over one of the division’s all-time greats.

Generally regarded as the second-greatest UFC middleweight of all-time, Adesanya has had an up-and-down run the last few years. After losing his belt to longtime rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281, Adesanya made the most of his immediate rematch, reclaiming the title with MMA Fighting’s 2023 Knockout of the Year. Unfortunately, Adesanya then dropped the title in his ensuing defense, this time to Sean Strickland, causing “The Last Stylebender” to take a prolonged break from the sport. Now Adesanya is back and hoping to become only the second fighter in UFC history to win a title three times in the same weight class.

Check out the UFC 305 main event live blog below.

(function(n){function c(t,i){n[e](h,function(n){var r,u;if(n&&(r=n[n.message?"message":"data"]+"",r&&r.substr&&r.substr(0,3)==="nc:")&&(u=r.split(":"),u[1]===i))switch(u[2]){case"h":t.style.height=u[3]+"px";return;case"scrolltotop":t.scrollIntoView();return}},!1)}for(var t,u,f,i,s,e=n.addEventListener?"addEventListener":"attachEvent",h=e==="attachEvent"?"onmessage":"message",o=n.document.querySelectorAll(".live-center-embed"),r=0;r',c(t.firstChild,i)))})(window);