Who is going to win the ‘real African’ debate? The anticipation of finding an answer to this in the UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, has kept the entropy of the fighting community at great heights. The fire has been burning between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis as the throne of the UFC middleweight champion’s throne is at the stake. While ‘Stillknocks’ will fight to retain his middleweight title, ‘The Last Stylebender’ will be on the quest to take his throne back as he returns after a break following his title loss to Sean Strickland last year.

The Internet has been breaking with the prediction of the outcome of the fight. And it is difficult, indeed. If you pick two-time middleweight champion Adesanya’s experience as the deciding factor, you can not discount the power of Du Plessis who has a 7-0 record in the UFC, that too with five finishes against the likes of Darren Till, Derek Brunson, and Robert Whittaker. But apart from the championship belt, do you know how is the fight going to fill in the pockets of Adesanya and Du Plessis?

Stepping into the Octagon as a champion, Du Plessis can expect a hefty paycheck coming his way. However, ‘Stillknocks’ has a history of getting a lower pay than average. Even when he fought Sean Strickland in UFC 297, Du Plessis received a base salary of $300 thousand, with another $300 thousand for winning the bout. But this time, the picture looks more promising for the UFC middleweight champion.

Du Plessis is expected to receive $500 thousand just to show up for the fight and another $42 thousand from brand endorsements. As per some reports, the total amount that he can potentially pocket adds up to a whopping $1 million. On the other hand, Adesanya is the reason for attracting so much attention to the matchup. Understandably, he will receive a pretty big number for lifting the gates for the event. He is expected to get a guaranteed amount of $1 million and another $32 thousand from sponsorships. The money flow does not end here.

How can we forget Dana White’s massive win bonus? The winner is expected to get his wallet thickened by $100 thousand. Added to the massive PPV money, Du Plessis can potentially earn more than a million, while the purse for the former 2-time middleweight champion could go over a couple million. Notably, Adesanya had earned a whopping $3.18 million despite losing against Strickland at UFC 293. But what about the other fighters? Let’s take a look at the co-main eventers and others fighting at UFC 305.

The co-main event at RAC Arena will be fought between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg. While ‘Astroboy’ is a relatively new addition to the UFC rankings, he has a guaranteed paycheck of $75 thousand. Paired with the sponsorship money, he is expected to receive a number slightly above $80 thousand. But Kara-France has a base salary of $300 thousand, and an expected brand endorsement worth $11 thousand. 

Mateusz Gamrot has a similar expectation from the brand sponsorships. But he is indicated to receive $110 thousand just to show up to fight Dan Hooker. ‘The Hangman’, on the other hand, has a potential salary of $350 thousand, with $21 thousand from brand endorsements. And Tai Tuivasa is expected to get his pockets heavy with a $200 thousand base salary and $16 thousand in sponsorship money. 

Needless to say, these numbers can go significantly higher with the addition of Dana White’s win bonus, Performance of the Night bonus, and Fight of the Night bonus.

UPDATE: Dricus Du Plessis has defeated Israel Adesanya by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:38 of Round 4 to retain his middleweight title. Do you know what was his reaction after the win?

Du Plessis reverses his take on Israel Adesanya

The two fighters got into business from the very beginning of the fight. Du Plessis started strategically mixing up leg kicks with blitzes, but Adesanya also created scoring opportunities with his strikes from range. In the second round, Adesanya initially stood up. But Du Plessis landed an early takedown. Alongside, there were some submission attempts that marked a strong round for Du Plessis. the third round saw Adesanya coming back.

It was marked by his increased work to the body. Du Plessis looked a bit tired here, as he stayed away from his wrestling, but had his own moments with his striking. The strategy continued till the championship rounds. Adesanya had started to gain his footing back until Du Plessis went back to the grappling in the fourth round.

A shot in this round wobbled Adesanya. That was enough for the South African to put him back on the ground. I just made a stupid, dumb mistake on the ground,” Adesanya said after the fight. Finally, du Plessis got his arm on the right spot and submitted Adesanya with a rear naked choke, continuing his undefeated run in the UFC (8-0) at the RAC arena.

This hopefully puts an end to a fiery verbal war that started when Du Plessis claimed to become the first “true UFC African champion” who trains and resides in the continent, unlike former champions like Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou. Interestingly, after the win, Du Plessis completely changed his tone for Adesanya.

“For me, [it was an honor] to share this octagon with a legend, not potentially, but a 100 percent Hall of Famer… [Israel Adesanya] has done so much for the sport. I’m really sorry it came across that I disrespected the fact that he was from Africa. That was never my intention. Now tonight, Africa would have won regardless! But tonight, South Africa was the victor. It was an honor for me to share this cage with a legend like that. I have the utmost respect for him,” Du Plessis was quoted as saying after the fight. But what next for Adesanya?

He is left with not much hope for another title shot. There were some speculations of his retirement after this. But the 35-year-old slashed those as he said, “I’m not f***ing leaving.” On the other hand, Du Plessis now has back-to-back wins against three of the past four middleweight champs: Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Robert Whittaker. So the most probable for him is either a rematch or a fight against the remaining champion. So can it be the former middleweight champ Alex Pereira? We wait to find out!