The heavyweight bout between Junior Tafa and Valter Walker has been confirmed, among other matchups, for UFC 305 fight card at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The MMA event airs live on Saturday, August 17 (ET).
Tafa (5-2) of Auckland, New Zealand makes his second Octagon appearance for the year and looks to return to winning ways. The Brisbane, Australia-based 27-year-old suffered the defeat via second-round TKO against Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 298 in February.
Walker (11-1) also fights for the second time in 2024 and looks to get back in the win column. The 26-year-old Brazilian dropped a unanimous decision against Lukasz Brzeski in his UFC debut in April.
The promotion confirmed the Tafa vs Walker matchup via post on X today. Also made official for the event, a previously announced heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa of Australia and Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Brazil, and a flyweight bout between Steve Erceg of Australia and Kai Kara-France of New Zealand. Plus, a featherweight contest between Jack Jenkins of Australia and Gavin Tucker of Canada has been added to the card.
In addition, according to NZ Herald, a featherweight bout between Joshua Culibao of Australia and Ricardo Ramos of Brazil has been also scheduled for the event.
In the UFC 305 main event, reigning middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis of South Africa defends his title against Nigerian-New Zealand former two-time champion Israel Adesanya. The current lineup looks as the following:
- Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, middleweight – du Plessis’ UFC middleweight title
- Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg, flyweight
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, heavyweight
- Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes, lightweight
- Casey O’Neill vs. Tereza Bleda, women’s flyweight
- Stewart Nicoll vs. TBA, flyweight
- Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker, heavyweight
- Joshua Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos, featherweight
- Jack Jenkins vs. Gavin Tucker, featherweight
The local UFC 305 date in Australia is Sunday, August 18.
