UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya takes place this Saturday live from Perth Australia. The card kicks off with the Early Prelims at 6:30 PM EST on ESPN+, followed by the Prelims at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN/ESPN+ and the Main Card PPV at 10:00 PM EST on ESPN+ PPV.

The main event features one of the greatest middleweights of all time in Israel Adesanya trying to regain his title against Dricus Du Plessis. The co-main event at flyweight between two former title challengers when Kai Kara France takes on Steve Erceg.

Check out all the latest UFC 305 DFS picks and lineups, Du Plessis vs. Adesanya cheat sheet and matchup breakdowns for the entire fight card below and as always feel free to reach out to me in Discord or on X/Twitter at @MikeIannoneDFS.

Now let's look at some UFC 305 DFS picks and lineups for Saturday's event, along with our Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Cheat Sheet. Good luck with your UFC 305 DFS picks and lineups!

UFC 305 DFS Picks & Lineups: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Cheat Sheet, 8/17

Main Event UFC DFS Picks

Dricus doesn't have boring fights as he loves to push the pace and mix in his wrestling and striking really well. Adesanya is at his best when he can keep his range and pick apart his opponents from the outside. Izzy is by far the more technical striker, but the power of DDP should be able to close the gap there. I think Izzy wins this fight, but with the way these guys fight DDP is the better play for DraftKings. If DDP wins the fight he should be in the optimal lineup as I don't see him scoring under 90 even in a decision, if Izzy doesn't get the Round 1/2 KO he probably won't score enough to be in the optimal lineup. I'm going to end up with about 40% DDP and 30% Izzy when I build my lineups, even though I am picking Izzy to win the fight.

Expensive UFC DFS Picks

Nolan is the more powerful striker, and with his -1000 ITD odds he should be one of the highest owned fighters on the slate. The only thing that could hold his ownership down is that he is priced at $9,800, which is a price we haven't seen in years. Nolan doesn't have the best chin, but Reyes is on his second fight after a five-year layoff, and he isn't a power puncher, so it'll be a real fluke if he wins this. Obviously the -1200 is probably too much for a fighter like Nolan who has been KO'd in Round 1 multiple times, but he should win this fight, he should win it early, and he should score 105+ pts on DK.

Herbert Burns is known for coming out quickly for about three minutes before fading out. Jenkins isn't normally a high-volume guy or a guy who gets the finish, but with Burns deficiency in cardio he should be able to get it here. Jenkins doesn't land a ton of volume topping out at around 85 significant strikes in a decision, and he is probably going to avoid the ground early on so if this fight gets out of Round 2 Jenkins is probably outscored by others in this range. I also have to mention that Jack's leg kicks are well known as he has five finishes in his career by leg kicks and breaking his opponents’ legs so be on the lookout for those.

I'm actually picking against Gamrot in terms of betting, but for DK he has the recipe for success. The only way he wins this fight is by spamming takedowns and if he does, he is going to need at least 9 minutes of control time to win this fight. He has been knocked down in 4 of his last 5 fights, which is a major red flag against someone with the power of Dan Hooker, but if he can win this fight, he likely scores 95+ even in a decision victory.

Nicoll looks like he is going to be a pretty decent wrestler for the flyweight division. His level of competition has looked pretty terrible once he gets the fight to the ground, so it is always tough to tell if he is dominant or if these opponents are just lost on the ground. He should be able to get some takedowns, and if he does, he should win the fight, but if he struggles to keep the fight down, he probably loses a striking battle.

Prates is low volume and really needs a Round 1 KO to compete with these other high-priced fighters. Li at his best could dominate this fight with his wrestling, but the major red flag is that this is Li's first fight in about three years coming off of a spine injury, so we have no idea how he is going to react in there. I'll probably be underweight on Prates as Leach hasn't been KO'd in his career, but coming off of a spine injury is always a concern.

Mid-Range UFC DFS Picks

It is a weird week with only 6 fights between 8100-8900 this week so I'm including Jairzinho in the mid-range. Sometimes his inactivity is a detriment, but he has the power to KO anyone and he is the more technical fighter in this matchup, so I think he lands on Tai within the first two rounds.

Erceg was five minutes away from winning the title and went for an ill-advised takedown against Pantoja otherwise he would be the champ right now. He is the A-side to this fight, and he is better everywhere this fight goes. I'm expecting a 30-27 from Erceg but I do respect Kai's toughness, so it'll be tough for him to finish this fight.

I don't like trusting Kenan as the best moments of his career are in losses (dropping Ian Garry), but this is a major step back. Glenn made his UFC debut at 145lbs, but his better days are behind him and this matchup is all the way up at 170lbs, so I don't really expect Glenn to look like he belongs. Glenn has always been chinny and maybe not cutting weight helps him, but Song is someone you have to land clean on 100+ times before he goes down so if I'm playing anyone in this fight it is Kenan.

If Walker gets a takedown, I don't think Tafa is able to get up until the round ends. He has takedown upside and looks to be in career best shape, so I think he dominates this fight. If Tafa wins it is going to be by KO so you can play that side of the fight as well if you want to take a chance.

I'm lost on Ramos. The guy is a BJJ black belt who keeps getting caught in guillotines in Round 1. Culibao is the better striker, and he has more heart so if this is a war I expect him to be the one who is still looking to bring the pace. Ramos is going to get takedowns, so he is playable on DK, but I'm just tired of playing Ramos and watching him get subbed against competition that shouldn't be able to grapple with him.

O'Neil is going to land more volume, but Santos has more power. I don't think either of these girls are going to get the finish so I'm going to lean on Casey here as an underdog who can land 100+ strikes in a decision and isn't reliant on a KO.

Ramos is a BJJ black belt and his upside is a ton of wrestling (which has always been Culibao's weakness) so he could score well. I'm just sick of watching him underperform, but a BJJ black belt with multiple spinning elbow victories is someone that we probably should be playing.

Paydown UFC DFS Picks

Nicoll has good wrestling, but his level of competition has been terrible. Fading these UFC debut fighters has always been a good angle to attack and I'm going to look to attack it again in this spot.

Hooker can KO Gamrot if he catches him clean, and he is going to be the one landing the more damaging blows. It's hard to score well when you are on your back or defending takedowns for half the fight, but I expect him to be able to land enough damage to get the win more often than his +275 line would imply.

Tai can KO anyone in the division if he catches them and Jairzinho sometimes gets complacent to let his opponent dictate the pace. If Tai wins, it is probably by KO as he swings wild hooks to try to get into range. He has high upside for a low price.

Erceg is durable so while I think he is a good fighter with a decent chance to win the fight, he'll need the other fighters in this range to lose if he wants to make the optimal since almost all of these underdogs can KO their opponents.

I'm still concerned with him coming back from an injury, but he can wrestle, and Prates may slow if he has to go into deep water. If this fight was a few years ago Li would have been closer to even money, but he still has the upside that he has always had.

He's moving up to a new weight class, he doesn't wrestle much, and while he is actually at a reach advantage, so his size isn't terrible for the weight class I don't think he has the chin that he used to have. He probably gets KO'd and if he doesn’t, he won't be finding the finish on Kenan.

Burns is live for the first few minutes to win this fight by submission, I'm probably playing him in about 5% of my lineups but he is toast once he starts to gas at all.

A fluke KO is the only way I see him winning this fight, and with him taking so many years off and returning only to get KO'd I don't think he wins this matchup. The UFC is clearly trying to prop up Nolan and I expect him to get KO'd early.

UFC DFS Optimizer: Sample UFC 305 Lineup

MMA DFS Strategy: Live Dogs

• Du Plessis, Hooker, O’Neil, Jingliang, Tuivasa

Du Plessis vs. Adesanya UFC 305 DFS Picks & Stats