EXCLUSIVE: UFC President @danawhite confirms Israel Adesanya will fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 on August 17th in Perth. pic.twitter.com/mUkcGPGxaK
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) June 17, 2024
The bout was confirmed by UFC CEO Dana White on The Jim Rome Show, with South Africa’s Du Plessis and New Zealand-based Nigerian Adesanya set to go head to head at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Saturday, August 17. Adesanya had previously posted to his Instagram to unofficially reveal the matchup.
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The bout represents Du Plessis’ first title defence since he defeated Sean Strickland via split decision to capture the belt at UFC 297 in Toronto back in January. He’s currently riding a nine-fight win streak that stretches back to September 2019.
His last defeat came at the heavy hands of Roberto Soldic in their welterweight title rematch at KSW 45 in London in October 2018. Since then, Du Plessis has defeated Joilton Lutterbach in KSW, Brendan Lesar in EFC, then won seven in a row in the UFC.
Victories over Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till, Derek Brunson and former champion Robert Whittaker earned “Stillknocks” a shot at the middleweight title, and he edged Strickland on the scorecards in Canada to capture the title.
Despite calls for an immediate rematch with Strickland, the UFC have gone in a different direction, with Du Plessis now set to face Adesanya in a matchup that brings their simmering rivalry to a head later this summer.
Adesanya has taken a break from competition since his shock unanimous decision defeat to Strickland saw him lose his title at UFC 293 last September.
Prior to that defeat, he swapped wins with longtime rival Alex Pereira as he was dramatically stopped by “Poatan” in the final round of their middleweight title clash at UFC 281, then turned the tables on the Brazilian with a resounding one-shot KO in the immediate rematch at UFC 287.
Then Adesanya faced Strickland and, despite being the betting favourite heading into the bout, he found himself outstruck by an inspired Strickland as he lost his title for the second time.
Now Adesanya is set to return and 11 months on from that title loss, “The Last Stylebender” will get the chance to return to the middleweight summit once again.
