RAC Arena in Perth, Australia will be the center of the fighting world on Saturday when UFC 305 will feature a dream match for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Dricus du Plessis (21-2) is on a nine-fight winning streak and won the title with in a split decision against Sean Strickland at UFC 297. Now he’ll take on former UFC Middleweight Champion and one of the sport’s biggest names in Israel Adesanya.
Early prelims for the 14-fight UFC 305 fight card begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, while the main card is scheduled to begin at roughly 10 p.m. ET. Du Plessis is the slight -105 underdog in the UFC 305 odds despite being the reigning champion. Adesanya is listed as the -115 favorite (bet $115 to win $100). Before making any UFC 305 picks or entering any UFC prop bets on sites like PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, or Sleeper Fantasy, make sure you see the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine expert Daniel Vithlani.
Vithlani made his SportsLine debut in January 2023 and swept the main card for UFC 283 with a 5-0 record and has been a consistent winner ever since. Over the past 13 UFC pay-per-view events, Vithlani has gone 10-6 on main-card picks and his selections in that span have netted his followers a profit of more than $1,200.
His highlights include predicting an upset for Sean O’Malley (+210) against Aljamain Sterling (-250) at UFC 292 as part of a 4-1 main card and his UFC 299 winners included underdog selections on Poirier (+190) against Saint Denis (-230) and Michael Page (+110) against Kevin Holland (-130). Anyone who has followed him has seen massive returns.
Now, with UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya on deck, Vithlani has studied the UFC fight card from top to bottom and released his top selections. You can only see those picks at SportsLine.
UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya preview
Adesanya ruled the middleweight division for three-and-a-half years, beginning with winning the interim UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 236 in April 2019 and then becoming the unified champion at UFC 243 in October of that year. He began his UFC career 23-1, with the only loss coming when he stepped up in weight class to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title in March 2021. Adesanya owns the second-longest win streak in UFC Middleweight division history (12), a streak which came to an end when he lost the belt to Alex Pereira in Nov. 2022 via TKO.
While Adesanya would win the title back in a rematch five months later — thus becoming the only two-time UFC Middleweight champion in promotion history — The Last Stylebender would then lose the title in an ensuing bout to Sean Strickland. Du Plessis would then defeat Strickland in Jan. 2024 for his first UFC Championship. The South African fighter is undefeated in his UFC career (7-0) as part of an overall nine-match win streak.
Du Plessis (21-2) has a much more varied arsenal than Adesanya (24-3) as the latter has never had any of his 27 career fights decided by submission. Adesanya has a kickboxing background and is tied with Anderson Silva for the most knockdowns (13) in UFC Middleweight division history. As for Du Plessis, he has 10 wins via submission in his career, nine via knockout and two by way of decision as he has backgrounds in judo, wrestling, BJJ and kickboxing.
For the tale of the tape, du Plessis is five years younger and doesn’t have the wear and tear that Adesanya has, as the former champ also has over 80 pro boxing and kickboxing fights on his resume. However, Adesanya has the edge in measureables, standing three inches taller with four-inch reach and 1.5-inch leg reach advantages. Both fighters are near each other in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings as du Plessis enters UFC 305 ranked No. 11 in the promotion, while Adesanya is ranked No. 13. You can see more UFC 305 picks at SportsLine.
UFC 305 predictions
We’ll share one of Vithlani’s UFC 305 selections here: He is backing Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-250) to get the win over Tai Tuivasa (+205) in a heavyweight clash on the main card. Tuivasa is ranked higher in the heavyweight division (10th to Rozenstruik’s 12th) and he’ll have the home-crowd advantage as an Australian but Rozenstruik has certainly put in the better performances of late.
He’s won two of his last three bouts (both victories coming by way of knockout) while Tuivasa has lost four fights in a row entering UFC 305. They’re the same height and Tuivasa has a roughly 20-pound weight advantage but Rozenstruik’s reach and leg reach are both better by at least a couple inches and he’ll look to use that to his benefit as a striker.
“Rozenstruik is a calculated kickboxer with good timing and accuracy. Rozenstruik throws a clean jab and hard low kicks and can mix in a sneaky head kick. He is patient and very intelligent at range,” Vithlani told SportsLine. “Tuivasa’s best chance is to rush Rozenstruik with a blitz of punches and catch him with a looping shot. While that certainly is possible, I feel Tuivasa has sustained too much damage to trust against a measured striker like Rozenstruik.” You can see more UFC 305 picks at SportsLine.
How to make UFC 305 picks
Vithlani has strong picks for du Plessis vs. Adesanya and other bouts on the UFC 305 card. He’s also backing an underdog who “is the much more dangerous striker” to emerge with a huge victory. Those picks and his full analysis are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya, and which UFC props should you target? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on UFC Fight Night, all from the MMA expert who profited more than $1,200 on UFC main-card picks, and find out.
UFC 305 odds, fight card
See full UFC 305 picks, predictions, best bets here.
Dricus du Plessis (-105) vs. Israel Adesanya (-115)
Kai Kara-France (+135) vs. Steve Erceg (-160)
Mateusz Gamrot (-360) vs. Dan Hooker (+280)
Tai Tuivasa vs. (+205) Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-250)
Li Jingliang (+275) vs. Carlos Prates (-350)
Junior Tafa (-130) vs. Valter Walker (+110)
Joshua Culibao (-140) vs. Ricardo Ramos (+118)
Casey O’Neill (+125) vs. Luana Santos (-150)
Jack Jenkins (-700) vs. Herbert Burns (+500)
Tom Nolan (-1200) vs. Alex Reyes (+750)
Song Kenan (-170) vs. Ricky Glenn (+143)
Stewart Nicoll (-240) vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar (+200)
