UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler has assessed who has a narrow edge over their opponent leading into this weekend’s main event.
The promotion is back Down Under to stage an event inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, for the second consecutive year. After the country’s own Alexander Volkanovski topped proceedings in February 2023, UFC 305 sees New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya as the local interest.
The former two-time middleweight champion and City Kickboxing standout will headline the upcoming pay-per-view in competition for the gold he formerly held, and which is now in the possession of Dricus Du Plessis.
While “The Last Stylebender” will enter as the favorite, “Stillknocks” is no stranger to upsetting the odds. And having done so against the likes of Robert Whittaker already, many are stuck on who to back at UFC 305.
Having trained with the champ himself, Chandler is in a similar predicament. But he ultimately sees one aspect that should give Adesanya the advantage on fight night…
Chandler: Adesanya’s ‘Mind & Fight IQ’ Higher Than Du Plessis’
During an interview with Lucky Block, Chandler looked ahead to this weekend’s PPV headliner, which finally brings a bitter and sensitive rivalry between Du Plessis and Adesanya to the Octagon.
The former three-time Bellator titleholder has experience witnessing Du Plessis’ talents firsthand after the South African spent time at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. Nevertheless, what he saw evidently wasn’t enough to convince him that the champ has a firm edge over Adesanya and his fight IQ.
“I’ve trained with Dricus a couple of times a little bit down in Florida, and I’m also friends with Izzy. That’s a tough one for me stylistically,” Chandler said. “If DDP can get those takedowns and hold Izzy down, which he’s done before, he can have some success. But does he get held down for five rounds? I don’t think that happens, so obviously Izzy needs to stay outside and throw those big shots.
“I think Izzy’s mind and fight IQ is higher than that of DDP’s, not that DDP has a small one. I just think Izzy’s is very, very high, and it’s why he’s had a tendency to not be a huge fan favorite stylistically,” Adesanya continued. “But the guy goes out there and wins, so it’ll be very interesting, but I think Izzy has the slight advantage in that fight.”
Having proven his and his team’s fight smarts with the southpaw approach they adopted to shock the world against Whittaker in July 2023, Du Plessis will look to prove his detractors wrong once again by making the necessary adjustments to prove a rude welcome back to action for Adesanya.
