UFC 305 takes place in Perth this weekend with Israel Adesanya attempting to become a three-time middleweight champion when he faces current belt holder Dricus Du Plessis.
The pair have a long standing rivalry over their African heritage, while continental bragging rights are on the line closer to home as Australian Steve Ercgeg faces New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France in the co-main event.
With an exciting night of fights expected, we have picks that could be in the queue for bonuses from UFC President Dana White.
UFC Tips
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Submission Steve is no slouch
Prior to his arrival in the UFC, Steve Erceg was racking up a reputation as a submission artist with six of his nine pro wins on the regional scene coming via this method and this match-up with Kai Kara-France represents his best chance of a submission win so far.
The 29-year-old showed his grappling skills in his surprise title shot against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 in May, pushing the champion hard over five rounds following the relatively short notice call.
Two months earlier, Erceg showed he also has hands, knocking out Matt Schnell in the second round in what was only his third appearance in the UFC following back-to-back decision wins.
Kara-France is a former title challenger who brings chaos in the Octagon. The 31-year-old is 7-4 in the UFC but comes into this on a two-fight losing skid. He suffered a split decision loss to Amir Albazi last June and a second-round stoppage defeat to Brandon Moreno at UFC 277 in July 2022 for the vacant title.
The New Zealander does have power in his hands which he showcased with back-to-back first-round stoppage wins in 2021 over Cody Garbrandt and Rogério Bontorin.
Kara-France’s chaotic style can lead to mistakes, as shown by his submission loss to Brandon Royval at UFC 253, which someone as calm and calculated as Erceg in the Octagon could capitalise on.
“Bigi Boy” to show his big power
Two heavyweights collide here in Tai Tuivasa and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a knockout is likely.
Tuivasa is 8-7 in the UFC and comes into this on a four-fight losing streak. The 31-year-old was last seen in March being submitted in the first round by Marcin Tybura on the back of three other losses by finish. to Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Ciryl Gane.
Prior to this losing run, the New Zealander was on a five-fight hot streak with good wins over Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai and Greg Hardy.
Tuivasa was once someone who could take a big shot in order to land his own, something which has faded since meeting those in the upper echelons of the division. He has seven wins by KO/TKO with three losses each via KO/TKO and submission.
Rozenstruik is now 8-5 in the UFC and comes into this with a pretty inconsistent record. The 36-year-old won last time out with Shamil Gaziev retiring in round four of their contest.
Since 2019, Rozenstruik is pretty much on a win one, lose one streak. He has wins over Gaziev, Chris Daukus, Augusto Sakai and Junior Dos Santos along with losses to Francis Ngannou, Cyril Gane, Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida.
Although another who comes up short against the top guys in the division, Rozenstruik does possess power in his hands with all eight UFC wins coming by KO/TKO.
Only Volkov and Ngannou have knocked him out, showing he does have a good chin.
The stats show Rozenstruik absorbs half the strikes of Tuivasa and this could prove crucial in this shoot out.
Junior stepping up
There could be another knockout as two relatively novice heavyweights headline the prelims with Junior Tafa taking on Valter Walker.
Tafa has a 1-2 record in the UFC having made the switch from kickboxing. The 27-year-old was last seen losing in the second round to Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 298 in March,
However, he took the fight on less than 24 hours notice, stepping in following a late injury to his brother, Justin.
Tafa’s other loss in the UFC was in his debut to Mohammed Usman where he did look good on the feet early until Usman began to impose his wrestling.
The New Zealander’s only UFC win was a first round KO of Parker Porter last August, showing the power his 19 KO wins from 23 pro kickboxing fights suggests.
Walker also has a brother with UFC pedigree in Light Heavyweight contender, Johnny.
The Brazilian lost on his UFC debut against Łukasz Brzeski in April, who was last seen at UFC 303 getting KO’d in the first round by Mick Parkin.
That was Walker’s first loss in his 12 fight pro career, with four stoppage wins in a row earning him a UFC contract.
The 26-year-old has dropped 26 lbs ahead of this fight in an attempt to be fitter and faster in this fight.
Potentially that relatively fast drop in weight will make Walker less durable, particularly against a heavy hitter like Tafa and the New Zealander is fancied to get the win here.
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