UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will defend his title against two-time champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday night at UFC 305 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Adesanya has not fought since September of last year, while du Plessis is fresh off a split decision win at UFC 292 in January. Adesanya is the -120 favorite in the UFC 305 odds (risk $120 to win $100) as he seeks to win his third title. Which fighters should you bet on for UFC 305?
Saturday's main card begins at 10 PM ET, with prelims starting at 8 PM ET. Other bouts on the card include a flyweight showdown between Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg (-190) and lightweight Mateusz Gamrot (-440) vs. Dan Hooker. Before making any UFC 305 picks or entering any UFC prop bets on sites like PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy or Sleeper Fantasy, be sure to check out SportsLine expert Daniel Vithlani's MMA predictions and betting advice.
Vislani made his SportsLine debut in January 2023, winning the main card of UFC 283 with a 5-0 record, and has been a consistent winner ever since. In the past 13 UFC pay-per-view events, Vislani has a 10-6 record on main card picks, earning followers more than $1,200 in profits on his selections during that span.
His highlights include predicting an upset of Sean O'Malley (+210) vs. Aljamain Sterling (-250) at 4-1 on the main card of UFC 292, and underdog picks of Poirier (+190) vs. Saint-Denis (-230) and Michael Page (+110) vs. Kevin Holland (-130) to win at UFC 299. Anyone who follows him has reaped huge rewards.
With UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya now upon us, Vislani has thoroughly studied the UFC fight card and has come out with his top picks, which you can see exclusively at SportsLine.
UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya Preview
Adesanya won the interim UFC middleweight title at UFC 236 in April 2019 and dominated the middleweight division for three and a half years before becoming the unified champion at UFC 243 in October of that year. Adesanya started his UFC career 23-1, losing only once when he moved up a weight class to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title in March 2021. Adesanya holds the second-longest win streak in UFC middleweight history (12) until his streak was ended by TKO loss to Alex Pereira in November 2022.
Adesanya regained the title in a rematch five months later to become the only two-time UFC middleweight champion in UFC history, but The Last Stylebender lost the title to Sean Strickland in a subsequent bout. Du Plessis then defeated Strickland to become the first UFC champion in January 2024. The South African fighter is undefeated (7-0) in his UFC career and is on a nine-fight win streak overall.
Duplessis (21-2) has a much more versatile arsenal than Adesanya (24-3), who has never been decided by submission in 27 career fights. Adesanya comes from a kickboxing background and is tied with Anderson Silva for the most knockouts (13) in UFC middleweight history, while du Plessis has a background in judo, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing and has 10 career submission wins, nine knockout wins and two wins by decision.
The tape speaks for itself: du Plessis is five years younger and doesn't have the wear and tear of Adesanya, and the former champion has over 80 professional boxing and kickboxing fights under his belt. But Adesanya has the size advantage, being three inches taller, with a four-inch reach and one-and-a-half inch leg reach. The two fighters are close in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, with du Plessis entering UFC 305 ranked 11th and Adesanya ranked 13th. More UFC 305 predictions can be found at SportsLine.
UFC 305 Predictions
Here's one of Vislani's picks for UFC 305: He predicts Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-250) will beat Tai Tuivasa (+205) in a heavyweight showdown on the main card. Tuivasa's career has been downhill since knocking out Derrick Lewis in two rounds in 2022. Since then, he's lost four straight fights, each time coming before the end of the bout.
Rozenstruik is not only as strong as Tuivasa, but he is also better conditioned and defends better. He throws the best punches on the counter attack, which Tuivasa struggles to dodge. Tuivasa has had too many injuries in recent years, so Vislani is not looking to back him in this fight.
“Tuivasa's best chance is to rain a flurry of punches on Rozenstruik and catch him with a looping shot. That's certainly possible, but I think Tuivasa would take too much damage against a careful striker like Rozenstruik,” Vislani told SportsLine. You can find more UFC 305 predictions on SportsLine.
How to choose UFC 305
Vislani has some big predictions for du Plessis vs. Adesanya at UFC 305 and other fights, and he expects the underdog who is “the much more dangerous striker” to pull off a big win. These predictions, along with his complete analysis, are available exclusively at SportsLine.
UFC 305: Who will win du Plessis vs. Adesanya? And which UFC props should you bet on? Visit SportsLine now for detailed UFC fight night predictions from an MMA expert who's made over $1,200 on his UFC main card predictions.
UFC 305 odds, fight card
See our complete picks, predictions and best bets for UFC 305 here.
Dricus du Plessis (+100) vs. Israel Adesanya (-120)
Kai Kara-France (+160) vs. Steve Erceg (-190)
Mateusz Gamrot (-440) vs. Dan Hooker (+340)
Tai Tuivasa vs. (+205) Jairzinho Rozenstryk (-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 Nicol (-240) vs. Jesus Santos Aguilar (+200)
