Dricus du Plessis is looking to make his first title defense in hostile territory down under. The South African is going all the way to Australia to defend his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya this weekend at UFC 305. The fight takes place on Sunday, August 18 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
The event begins at 7:30 am GMT +5:30. For fans in the United States, the fight will take place at around 7 pm PT/10 pm ET on August 17.
It is an early morning card for the fans in Australia who will look to watch the fight live.
The main card, as expected is stacked to the brim with Izzy and DDP main eventing, while Kai Kara-France takes on Steve Erceg. Mateusz Gamerot also returns to action against Izzy’s teammate, Dan Hooker.
Main card
Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya
Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker
Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Jingliang Li vs. Carlos Prates
Prelims
Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker
Josh Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos
Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos
Jack Jenkins vs. Herbert Burns
Early Prelims
Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes
Song Kenan vs. Ricky Glenn
Stewart Nicoll vs. Jesus Aguilar
Fans in the US will be able to watch the fight on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN PPV+. For fans outside the United States, the PPV is available on Starzplay.
Further information regarding the streaming is available on the official UFC website.
The UFC 305 main event promises to be fireworks with both fighters still engaging in trash talk just days before their fight.
Adesanya calls DDP ‘privileged’ for ‘real African’ comments
For a long time now Dricus du Plessis has stated that he is the first ‘real’ African champion in the UFC because of the fact that he stays there and trains there.
However, to say this without the context of apartheid and systemic historical oppression that led to many black people leaving the continent in search of a better life is extremely insensitive.
And while much of the UFC community, fans, fighters and experts alike have remained mum about the issue or only have addressed it from the point of ‘how real is that’, Adesanya has rightfully called it out.
In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, the former champion laid the truth on DDP and called out his lack of understanding owing to living a very privileged life in South Africa.
“People like [Abdul Razak Alhassan] and myself who were forced to flee our own country because of a better opportunity.[Dricus] will never understand that because he lives behind the f*cking gates of his privileged life in South Africa.”
Israel Adesanya goes OFF on “privileged” Dricus du Plessis for his comments about being the first African champion:
“People like [Abdul Razak Alhassan] and myself who were forced to flee our own country because of a better opportunity.
[Dricus] will never understand that… pic.twitter.com/zLMNZGxHYO
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 11, 2024
Adesanya does not think someone like du Plessis could understand what his family went through when they had to migrate from Africa. And to that end, he would like to take that belt that he held on for so long and made it into a marquee product at the top of the food chain.
