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The Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to Perth, Australia, for UFC 305, which will pit defending middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis against Israel Adesanya. If you hope to tune in, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled everything you need to know about how to watch UFC 305, including live streaming options in multiple countries.
Du Plessis and Adesanya head into the event with fairly even records, so it’s shaping up to be a solid fight for Du Plessis’s UFC middleweight title. In Du Plessis’s 23 professional fights, he has only lost two. Adesanya’s 27 pro fights have only resulted in three losses. Adesanya is a former two-time UFC middleweight champion, so it’s safe to say he’s attempting to reclaim his former title. The rest of the fight card is also impressive, with a co-main featuring a Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg flyweight bout, just months after Erceg lost the UFC Flyweight Championship.
UFC fans know the drill by now: watching the entire event requires viewers to have both an ESPN+ subscription and pay a separate pay-per-view (PPV) fee. Below, you can find everything you need to know about watching in the US, as well as UK, Canada, and other watch options. Plus, we’ve included details on a potential savings opportunity for US viewers and the main event fight card.
How to watch UFC 305 in the US
UFC 305 will kick off on Saturday, August 17. As is often the case with overseas UFC fights, the schedule is still friendly for US viewers, with early prelims starting at around 6 p.m. ET and prelims following at 8 p.m. ET. The main card picks up at 10 p.m. ET, but the ring walks for the title fight don’t usually start until later.
To live stream the event, you’ll need to get an ESPN+ subscription ($10.99 a month) if you don’t already have one. In order to access the main card, you’ll also need to pay an additional $79.99 PPV fee through the streaming service. We know this can get a bit expensive, but fortunately, there’s a savings opportunity for those new to ESPN+.
If you’re planning to hang onto your new subscription for a year, you can sign up for a bundle package, which consists of an annual subscription (regularly $109.99) and a PPV fight (regularly $79.99) for just $134.98 instead of the standard $189.98 that this would normally cost. At over $50 in savings, this is a pretty solid deal. Just keep in mind that you’ll still need to pay a PPV fee for every event going forward, and the annual subscription will renew at whatever the standard rate is this time next year.
ESPN+ is the home of UFC PPV events, meaning that fans need to purchase a subscription in addition to buying the one-off cards. ESPN is offering a bundle for both new subscribers and monthly subscribers to purchase a specific UFC PPV event along with a year-long subscription to the streaming service.
Where to watch UFC 305 everywhere else
The US isn’t the only place where people can get in on the action in the Octagon. UFC fans in the UK, Canada, and other places can also tune into the fights across various platforms. In the UK, viewers can watch through TNT Sports (using a Premium Discovery+ subscription for £39.99 a month and no extra PPV fee. Canadians can tune in through UFC Fight Pass for $65 or through PPV options on most major Canadian TV providers.
UFC is available in various locations around the globe, so people should check their local TV listings for additional information. Those who will be traveling away from home during the fight and still want to keep up with some of the above subscriptions can do so with a VPN. Short for virtual private networks, VPNs let people alter their electronic device’s location so that they can still use their usual apps and websites while traveling outside their country.
Our go-to rec for the VPN-curious is ExpressVPN. It’s beginner-friendly, so there’s no major learning curve, and it includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. For additional information, check out our ExpressVPN review, and keep reading to learn how to use a VPN.
With its consistent performance, reliable security, and expansive global streaming features, ExpressVPN is the best VPN out there, excelling in every spec and offering many advanced features that makes it exceptional. Better yet, you can save up to 49% and get an extra three months for free today.
How to watch UFC 305 with a VPN
- Sign up for a VPN if you don’t already have one.
- Install it on the device you’re using to watch.
- Turn it on and set it to the location of your streaming service, like ESPN+ (US) or Discovery Plus (UK).
- Subscribe and pay the subscription and/or PPV fee.
- Enjoy UFC 305 online.
UFC 305 Fight Card: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya
Main card — 10 p.m. ET
- Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya (Middleweight title)
- Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg (Flyweight)
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker (Lightweight)
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (Heavyweight)
- Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates (Welterweight)
Note: Using VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.
Lillian Brown
Associate Editor of Streaming
Lillian Brown is the Associate Editor of Streaming for Business Insider. She joined the company in early 2024 as a Fellow before joining us full-time a few months later. She focuses on ‘how to watch’ guides for streaming services and live events for the Reviews team. She also covers VPN usage.Her entertainment writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Vulture, TV Guide, Time, Esquire, and The Daily Beast, among others. She specializes in writing about film and television. Previously, she worked in the Living/Arts department of The Boston Globe.When not teaching people how to stream the best live sports and TV shows, Lillian can be found long-distance running, watching the latest season of For All Mankind, or playing through The Last of Us Part II on her PS4 yet again.
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