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AAP
Justin Chadwick

WA stars set to headline Perth's UFC 305 on August 18

Perth fighter Jack Della Maddalena is tipped to fight in front of home fans at UFC 305. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Rising West Australian stars Jack Della Maddalena and Steve Erceg are set to be among the headline acts when the UFC returns to Perth on August 18.

Thursday's announcement that RAC Arena will host UFC 305 marks the third time Perth will host a UFC event, following on from 2018 and 2023.

Although the card is yet to be revealed, hometown heroes Della Maddalena and Erceg are expected to feature.

A grudge match between middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya could also be one of the headline acts.

Della Maddalena rocketed up to fifth in the welterweight standings following his recent victory over Brazilian Gilbert Burns.

Although Della Maddalena required surgery on his broken left arm after that fight, he's adamant he'll be ready to go in August.

The 27-year-old is keen to fight world No.3 Shavkat Rakhmonov in Perth in what will effectively be a title eliminator, with the winner then set to fight for the belt.

Leon Edwards is currently the welterweight champion.

"I've laid it out pretty nicely," Della Maddalena said recently.

"If we can get that Shavkat fight together, it's a title eliminator.

"If I can get through him, I feel like I'll have a world title bout on my hands."

Erceg could already be a world champion by the time the Perth event comes around.

The 27-year-old has only fought three times since making his UFC debut last year, and is currently 10th in the flyweight rankings.

But he will get his chance at snaring the belt on May 5 when he fights flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in Rio de Janeiro.

"It would be awesome," Erceg said of the prospect of becoming WA's first UFC champion.

"I don't look at it like destiny, I don't know if I really believe in that stuff.

"But life comes in waves - you have bad things happen to you, good things happen to you.

"At the moment I'm going through a good luck phase."

Last year's UFC event in Perth was headlined by former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who lost to Islam Makhachev by first-round knockout.

Volkanovski isn't expected to compete in Perth, but could be back in action later this year to take on Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title.

Another Australian star - Robert Whittaker - is also set to miss the Perth event after being announced as the headline act for the first UFC event in Saudi Arabia on June 22.

Whittaker, who is ranked the third-best challenger in the middleweight division, will take on world No.11 Khamzat Chimaev.

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