Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will try to reclaim his middleweight strap when he takes on reigning 185-pound champion Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 18.

‘The Last Stylebender’ held the middleweight title from October of 2019 when he beat Robert Whittaker via second-round knockout to November of 2022 when he lost to Alex Pereira by fifth-round KO.

In a rematch at UFC 287 less than five months later on April 8 of 2023, Adesanya took the belt back by scoring a second-round KO win over Pereira. However, five months later at UFC 293, Adesanya lost a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) to Sean Strickland.

When this much-anticipated scrap goes down, Adesanya will be 35 years of age. The 30-year-old Du Plessis will have the youth advantage.

DraftKings opened Adesanya as a -166 favorite late Monday morning, but it has adjusted the price to -162. Du Plessis is a +136 underdog.

FanDuel had ‘Stylebender’ at -186 for its opening number, but it was quickly adjusted to as low as -138. By early Monday afternoon, Adesanya was a -156 ‘chalk’ with Du Plessis at +122 on the comeback.

Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) won the belt back in January by edging Strickland via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) in Toronto at UFC 297. In seven career Octagon appearances, Du Plessis has produced five finishes and collected four fight-night bonuses.

He earned the title shot by defeating former middleweight kingpin Robert Whittaker with a second-round KO at UFC 290 last July. Du Plessis, who is on a nine-fight winning streak, owns other notable victories over the likes of Derek Brunson, Darren Till and Brad Tavares.

He hasn’t tasted defeat since October of 2018.