Will Alex Pereira return to middleweight to reclaim the belt that was once his?
The UFC light heavyweight champion, who has teased a potential move to heavyweight for a third title, was quick to post his reaction after watching Dricus du Plessis successfully defend the middleweight title at UFC 305 by tapping out Pereira’s longtime rival Israel Adesanya in the fourth round Saturday night in Perth, Australia.
“Coming down to 185 one more time,” Pereira wrote.
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“Poatan” won the UFC middleweight belt in 2022 with a fifth-round knockout of Adesanya, but lost it in an immediate rematch five months later. The Brazilian star then moved up to 205 pounds, defeated Jan Blachowicz, and captured the vacant title with a knockout over Jiri Prochazka. Pereira has since defended it twice with knockouts of Jamahal Hill and Prochazka again.
Pereira is currently scheduled to make the third defense of his light heavyweight belt at UFC 307, which goes down Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City.
Fourth-ranked flyweight contender Kai Kara-France got back in the win column in the UFC 305 main event in Perth, Australia defeating former title challenger Steve Erceg in the first round.
Kara-France entered the bout coming off back-to-back losses. He needed a win to stay in the Top 5 rankings. Not only did he get the win, the first-round TKO victory earned “Don’t Blink” a bonus.
Following the win, Kara-France spoke with commentator Daniel Cormier inside the octagon.
Dricus du Plessis | Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Dricus du Plessis backed up all his talk, submitting Israel Adesanya in the main event at UFC 305 to retain his middleweight title on Saturday. Now the “Stillknocks” era is well and truly underway as the MMA Fighting crew reacts to the massive pay-per-view event from Perth, Australia.
Following an wild pay-per-view event, Jed Meshew, and E. Casey Leydon react to du Plessis’s big win and just how good the middleweight champion actually is. Additionally, they discuss where Adesanya goes from here, how Alex Pereira fits into everything, Kai Kara-France’s impressive knockout of Steve Erceg, Dan Hooker taking home a split decision over Mateusz Gamrot in one of the best fights of the year, and much more.
Watch the UFC 305 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.
Last night (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia for UFC 305. Fittingly, the fight card was built to satisfy Australian fight fans, as local talent was highlighted from top-to-bottom. For the rest of the world, however, the bulk of the interest was vested in the main event Middleweight grudge match between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. All told, it was a much better event than last week, and there’s plenty to talk about!
Let’s take a look back over at UFC 305’s best performances and techniques:
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
DDP Cannot Be Denied
Dricus Du Plessis faced an Israel Adesanya well-prepared to recapture his title.
“Stylebender” attacked this fight correctly in many ways. He attacked the body ruthlessly. Every body kick he threw from the open engagement looked really painful, and his combination punching was at its best in years. He torched Du Plessis’ liver, ribs, and kidney, which really destroyed the champion’s cardio.
The problem for Adesanya is that Du Plessis is a gorilla. He has inhuman levels of toughness, strength, and grit. Somehow, he kept pushing the pace despite the brutal body shots. Anyone else would’ve hit the floor — “DDP” responded with lunging power punches and charging double leg takedowns.
He’s downright unreasonable.
Unfortunately for Adesanya, his defensive footwork issues reappeared when heavy fatigue was introduced. In addition, his defense to takedowns has always been just turning away and standing back up. Du Plessis is the rare Middleweight who was a genuine submission threat to Adesanya and could punish that trait. The South African nearly sunk in a rear naked choke in the second then sealed the deal for real in the fourth in a very similar sequence.
All in all, it’s yet another great win for Du Plessis and respectable performance from Adesanya. Send that man to South Africa for his next title defense!
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
DON’T BLINK!
A few months ago, Steve Erceg was one round away from being world champion. Last night, Kai Kara-France shut off his lights in the very first round. This sport will come at ya quick!
In the early exchanges, Kara-France was having difficulty touching Erceg, whereas Erceg’s jab was starting to find a home. However, “Astroboy” made a key mistake: he started punching down at Kara-France. Kara-France was already the shorter man, and he stands more squat too. It’s tempting to aim down towards his chin, when in fact it’s up to the longer, taller man in Erceg to bend his own knees and meet Kara-France’s level.
Punching down is dangerous. It leaves the chin exposed. A couple times, Kara-France’s big overhand swings came up just short. When his looping left did connect on a fully upright Erceg near the end of the round, Erceg hit the floor stiff. He popped back up, but he was on wobbly legs, and a second knockdown sealed the deal.
Kara-France now has the best case at Flyweight for a title shot. Sure, he technically lost to Amir Albazi in his bout before this, but many scored that fight for him anyway. There are no rules with UFC title fight matchmaking nowadays, so just book him versus Alexandre Pantoja!
If nothing else, it’s at least a fresh match up at 125-pounds.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Lightweight Provides The Goods
Dan Hooker vs. Mateusz Gamrot was awesome.
Gamrot started the fight with shockingly sharp kickboxing. He was moving really well, scored a brief takedown, and then floored Hooker with a nasty counter punch. He chewed up Hooker from top position too, carving “The Hangman” with punches and elbows from within the guard.
Fortunately, Dan Hooker has never been deterred by a bad start or bloodied face. When he returned to his feet with short time remaining in the first, he upped the pressure and floored Gamrot with a clubbing left hook!
Once more, Gamrot started the second strong. This time, he did so with the wrestling, controlling the first half of the round. When Hooker got back to his feet, he pressed hard and ate a lot of counters. His pressure was wearing Gamrot down, however, and Hooker started to land late in the round. Those connections prompted some bad shots from Gamrot, and Hooker brutally punished them with heavy elbows and tight guillotine attempts.
Seriously, the elbows were downright nasty. Any time Gamrot’s movement slowed down in a wrestling position, Hooker was dropping sledgehammers into the side of his head. Those blows definitely took something out of the notoriously well-conditioned wrestler and shifted the momentum into Hooker’s corner.
It was all up for grabs with five minutes remaining. Gamrot largely abandoned the wrestling — those elbows!!! — but still found success in cracking Hooker with counter punches and sharp jabs. Hooker’s power and grit in a brawl would not be denied though. He just kept pushing, confident that when his punches did land, they would take a bigger impact.
Hooker was right! He ripped the liver well, shut Gamrot’s eye, and had him stumbling in the closing minute of the fight. It was close from start-to-finish, but this time around, Hooker’s veteran grit and offensive savvy swayed the judges in his favor.
Do I think Hooker 2.0 is going on a title run at 34 years of age? I do not. But, “The Hangman” really might be better than ever, and he’s certainly must-watch even at this stage of the game.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Heavyweight Differences
Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik proved a good explanation of each man’s career direction.
Tuivasa, despite being five years younger, looks the same as ever. He has the same few tools (overhand right, clinch elbows, right low kick) and the same belly. For all the talk of dedicating himself in camp and improving, it’s hard to argue that “Bam Bam” is any better than he was during his would-be rise in 2018.
“Bigi Boy,” meanwhile, is improving. Maybe not dramatically, but this was one of Rozenstruik’s more active and rounded showings. He played his usual jab, inside low kick, and counter game plan well at distance, but he also showed off a bit of combination punching and generally solid defensive movement. He’s still relatively stuck in the same position, but Rozenstruik’s professionalism has now won him three of his last four. He’s not going anywhere.
After losing five straight, Tuivasa might be gone. The judge who somehow scored the fight for him certainly should be, because Rozenstruik kicked his ass for 15 full minutes!
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
The Nightmare Arrives!
It’s such a joy to watch Carlos Prates strike.
The Brazilian has more than 100 Muay Thai bouts on his record, and it shows! He is absolutely comfortable exchanging with his opponents. Li Jingliang has monstrous power in his hands, but you didn’t see Prates pulling away from his punches with big movements. No, the Southpaw stayed in the pocket, slipped, and angled off with small motions. He remained in position to attack, and subsequently, he was able to really pick apart “The Leech” between his big swings.
Because of his comfort, Prates has great presence. He pressures without getting wild, always staying in his opponent’s face. While doing so, he’s offering up a lot of different offense: left kicks, different angles on his left hand, stepping knees, and more. If Jingliang overreacted at all, Prates stayed on top of him and kept firing. Jingliang has a historically iron chin, but all those left hands added up and put him on the floor in a bad way.
Prates’ third straight UFC win is by far the biggest of his career. His wrestling and grappling defense are still somewhat in question, but if he can continue to keep fights standing, he’s a problem with anyone at 170 pounds.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Additional Thoughts
Valter Walker defeats Junior Tafa via first-round heel hook (highlights): Wrestler vs. striker at Heavyweight! Contrary to the expectations of nobody, Tafa started the fight by touching Walker up and putting him in danger, but the momentum shifted as soon as Walker latched onto Tafa’s leg. A high crotch put him down once then a mat return kept Tafa on the floor. Walker was in control when he opted to fall back on a leg lock, which rarely pays off. It worked here, however, as Tafa screamed in pain then acted surprised when the referee intervened. According to the unified rules — and every rules meeting I’ve ever attended as an athlete or corner — screaming in pain will always cause the referee to intervene, meaning Tafa has nobody to be upset with outside of himself.
Jack Jenkins defeats Herbert Burns via third-round knockout (highlights): This has to be the end of the line for Burns. He’s looked so offensively inept in each of his recent defeats, and this was no exception. For most of the fight, he was just getting battered by Jenkins. Jenkins has a reputation for his low kicking — that happens when you break the legs of multiple opponents! — but his boxing actually got the job done in this match up. He did a great job showing the low kick feint to load up a left hook, either upstairs or to the liver. Before long, he was following that left hook with a crushing overhand right. All told, he smashed Burns for most of three rounds, forcing the Brazilian to quit in a punished heap midway through the third.
Jesus Aguilar defeats Stewart Nicoll via first-round guillotine (highlights): It was a fun grappling match for as long as it lasted! Nicoll started the bout strong, using a kimura to flip Aguilar over and take the back in a brilliant scramble. When Aguilar scrambled to freedom, however, Nicoll made the costly mistake of trying to retain control against a man with four recent guillotine wins on his record. Aguilar jumped on his neck and put the Aussie prospect to sleep, extending his UFC win streak to three in the process.
For complete UFC 305: “Du Plessis vs. Adesanya” results and play-by-play, click HERE!
A typical wild night for Dan Hooker earned him some extra bucks.
Hooker overcame some early adversity to rally to defeat Mateusz Gamrot for the split-decision win that also was the Fight of the Night at UFC 305. It was the third time Hooker has won Fight of the Night honors in his career.
Kai Kara-France and Carlos Prates picked up Performance of the Night bonuses with their knockout wins at the RAC Arena. Kara-France flattened Steve Erceg at the 4:04 mark of the first round.
Prates also had a memorable performance in the Octagon in Perth, knocking out Li Jingliang at the 4:02 mark in the second round.
Following the UFC 305 fights inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, the big winners will answer questions from the media during the event’s post-fight press conference.
The fight card was headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Dricus du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images 
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