The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will return to Perth, Australia, with UFC 305 and an undercard that may be a bit low on star power but should provide some entertaining action accompanied by the expected regional flair. The featured heavyweight prelim between Junior Tafa and Valter Walker looks to be about as pure as the striker-versus-wrestler dynamic gets in 2024, while the best fight of the bunch pits Joshua Culibao against Ricardo Ramos in an intriguing featherweight scrap. Beyond that, Casey O’Neill looks to reclaim her prospect status against fellow women’s flyweight hopeful Luana Santos, while Australian favorites like Jack Jenkins and Tom Nolan are set up for violent, winnable affairs.
Now to the preview for the UFC 305 “Du Plessis vs. Adesanya” prelims:
Heavyweights
Junior Tafa (5-2, 1-2 UFC) vs. Valter Walker (11-1, 0-1 UFC)ODDS: Tafa (-130), Walker (+110)
Two heavyweights with more prominent older brothers look to get back in the win column here. Since Tafa joined his older brother in the UFC, consensus seems to have pegged the two heavyweights as interchangeable, particularly after the younger sibling stepped in for an injured Justin Tafa on late notice in February, prompting Justin to step in and take Junior’s pre-existing booking. While Justin’s purely a plodding power puncher, Junior has a bit more athletic potential while also being quite unproven. He was only months into his mixed martial arts career when the UFC picked him up in 2022, and that has resulted in a quick knockout of Parker Porter sandwiched in between two flat performances. Tafa has struggled defensively, particularly as a wrestler in his UFC debut against Mohammed Usman; and that figures to be an issue against Walker. The younger brother of light heavyweight Johnny Walker, he shares his sibling’s massive frame but is quite different in terms of approach, doing his best work as a wrestler while keeping things at a slow pace. After a solid regional career, “The Clean Monster” figured to hit the ground running upon signing with the UFC. However, his debut in April was a bit of a disappointment. Lukasz Brzeski looked like a beatable opponent but was able to string together enough striking volume over the course of three rounds to win a decision. Tafa could land a knockout blow, but Walker has proven durable thus far in his career and might only need one takedown per round to salt this away. The pick is Walker via decision.
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Tafa vs. Walker
Culibao vs. Ramos
Santos vs. O’Neill
Jenkins vs. Burns
Nolan vs. Reyes
Song vs. Glenn
Nicoll vs. Aguilar