Much of the interest in UFC 305 understandably surrounds Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. The UFC middleweight championship tilt headlines Saturday’s pay-per-view in Perth, Australia, but it’s not the only noteworthy fight on the card.
UFC 305 features significant fights in the UFC lightweight and flyweight divisions, plus the PPV debut of an intriguing welterweight prospect from a red-hot team. Du Plessis vs. Adesanya carries the brunt of the weight on Saturday, but these three fights are doing their part.
Take a look at three fights that deserve your attention at UFC 305.
Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg
This New Zealand vs. Australia clash will get the Perth crowd fired up. Erceg was the rare recipient of a bump in the official UFC rankings coming off a loss. Erceg entered his first UFC title shot as the promotion’s No. 11 flyweight contender, yet took champion Alexandre Pantoja to a close decision. Erceg’s eye-opening performance is rewarded with a fight against a former interim title challenger. Kara-France is two fights removed from a failed interim title fight with Brandon Moreno. Kara-France possesses unusual power for a flyweight, a style nicely contrasted by Erceg’s technical boxing. The winner will position themselves nicely for a future title shot in a division still lacking big draws.
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker
Hooker’s fights are alluring because they are always tremendously violent. That’s not a likely avenue against Gamrot’s ridiculous 5.28 takedowns per 15-minute average. Still, this fight has value. Gamrot (No. 5) is closer to a lightweight title shot than some realize. His October 2022 loss to Beneil Dariush damaged his contender status, but it’s his only shortcoming in eight fights across three years. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is expected to defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan next. Gamrot owns a win over Tsarukyan that could get him right back to the top of the contenders if he keeps rolling.
Hooker is in a rebuilding phase. The longtime lightweight contender bounced back from consecutive losses to Makhachev and Arnold Allen by beating Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner. Hooker gritted through a broken arm and fractured orbital to defeat Turner, a gutsy showing that renewed faith in his potential.
Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates
The Fighting Nerds are taking over in 2024. UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho helped launch the Fighting Nerds in Brazil, a unit that’s produced several intriguing fighters. Borralho and Jean Silva are the two biggest names to emerge from the camp but Prates has equal potential. The three “Contender Series” alums are undefeated in their last 37 fights combined. Prates shares his colleague Silva’s appetite for stoppages with 15 finishes in 17 professional wins. Prates looks to secure his third knockout in as many UFC fights, and his ninth consecutive stoppage due to strikes. That’s a tall task fighting Li. The Chinese fighter is rarely finished and has never been knocked out. Li has reliable punching power of his own. Once a legitimate UFC prospect, Li has alternated wins and losses since August 2019. This is an important fight to gauge where each man is in their careers.
