UFC 305 fight card in Perth reportedly ‘leaked’ in background of Dana White video, including the main event (2024)

Half of the UFC 305 fight card was reportedly spotted in the background of a recent Dana White video, including a former champion in the main event.

It’s not uncommon for eagle-eyed UFC fans to catch glimpses of upcoming, unannounced matchups from the background of various ‘War Room’ content shared online by the UFC – this time, fans are lifting the lid as the promotion prepares to head ‘down under’.

UFC 305 goes down August 18 from Perth, Western Australia

UFC 305 is currently scheduled for August 18, 2024, to be held at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.

The PPV event will be the third time that the UFC has touched down in Perth, having previously hosted UFC 221: Romero vs Rockhold in 2018, and UFC 284: Makhachev vs Volkanovski in 2023.

Now, eagle-eyed UFC fans think they’ve spotted who will feature in one-half of the UFC 305 fight card; and it’s not too difficult to imagine the potential matchups that the promotion is working towards.

Dana White reportedly leaks UFC 305 fight card from video background

Over the past 24 hours, the global MMA community has turned into a sea of internet sleuths as they dissect every pixel from Dana White’s recent video explaining the situation surrounding UFC 303.

The video is shot in the infamous ‘War Room’, the office space at the UFC headquarters where matchups are put together; with one particular camera angle offering fans a glimpse at some of the fighters on the right-hand side of the fight card.

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According to the reported leak, the five names who make up half of the main card are former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, top bantamweight contender Song Yadong, Australia’s own Jack Della Maddalena and Steve Erceg, as well as veteran Drakkar Close.

Only a few minutes after this post was published, Adesanya took to social media to confirm his return for UFC 305, as well as the matchup against du Plessis for the middleweight title.

“The SUN of Africa is the same sun that lights up our planet. The SUN will set and will rise again until you walk into it. The SUN, enjoy while it shines. Darkness falls when it’s gone,” he wrote.

This fight shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise as not only had Adesanya been teasing that he is now preparing to enter his next training camp, but South African king Dricus du Plessis also recently confirmed that he’s agreed to said fight; and that he was getting frustrated with the lack of official announcement.

Secondly, Song Yadong in the co-main might not make immediate sense for many fans, given the young contender currently holds just the #7 ranking in the bantamweight division.

However, the key here might very well be his opponent; with one man who could certainly merit a PPV co-main event being the UFC’s latest big-money signing, Kai Asakura.

Asakura was the RIZIN bantamweight champion who recently announced that he has not only signed with the promotion, but that the UFC was targeting a top 5 opponent for his debut.

Whilst Yadong is technically outside the top 5; a PPV debut so geographically close to Asakura’s native Japan would make sense, as would the matchup itself, if the UFC are planning on quickly pushing the 21-4 superstar into world title contention.

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Next up is Jack Della Maddalena, and this is where things get a little skeptical regarding this ‘leak’ as the fan-favorite Australian only recently confirmed that he was out for the next several months with a medical condition.

JDM had been targeting a fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov before announcing that he had suffered a nasty post-surgery infection to his arm only in May – could the welterweight contender be back much sooner than his initial post revealed?

Recent flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg is a rather understandable pick for the UFC considering the Perth landing, with this matchup potentially being an all-ANZAC clash with Kai Kara France.

Kara France not only called out Erceg a few weeks ago for this exact PPV homecoming, but the UFC Vegas 93 over the weekend also reportedly mentioned that the fight is in the works.

Finally, we have Drakkar Klose, whose feature on the UFC 304 main card could suggest that we’re also getting the return of ‘The Hangman’ Dan Hooker.

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Hooker had confirmed last week that he will indeed make his return in Perth, but that he was waiting for his opponent to sign the contract; Hooker vs Klose has also been reported to be in the works by inside sources via the Bendaman2001 page.

Further down the card, fans have also who they think are the names of Marlon Morales, Gerald Meerschaert, Gavin Tucker, and Ricardo Ramos.

Matchups between flyweights Casey O’Neil and Tereza Bleda, as well as lightweights Tom Nolan and Alex Reyes, were also reportedly made some weeks ago prior to the recent ‘leak’.

UFC 305 goes down in August; fans can expect to see a string of fight announcements for that event in the coming weeks.

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