UFC 305: Five Things We Learned

UFC 305: Five Things We Learned

UFC 305 was one of the more exciting UFC pay-per-views of the year. The event lived up to the hype with several exciting fights and strong performances. Additionally, the fights were important for their divisions and left us with shakeups in several weight classes. Here are five of the biggest lessons we learned from UFC 305.

Dricus Du Plessis thrives in sloppy chaos

The UFC 305 main event is a pretty strong example of what makes Dricus Du Plessis a unique and strange champion. Du Plessis looked terrible for the large majority of the fight, but he submitted Israel Adesanya in the fourth round.

In the first three rounds, Du Plessis looked awful. The exception to this is his successful grappling in the second round. Still, Adesanya was finding success. As the fight got deeper, it looked like the former champion’s body shots were wearing on the champion’s cardio and it felt like his cardio was completely gone.

The catch is that the tides turned in Du Plessis’ favor in the fourth round. The fight became a sloppy mess. It did not look like elite martial arts, but Du Plessis found success when Adesanya joined him in the deep end. The second Adesanya became tired and his technique slipped, Du Plessis capitalized.

What makes Du Plessis’ ability to thrive in sloppy chaos impressive is that he can get his opponent in that type of fight. That skill is unless if he never gets his opponent in a ridiculous fight. Regardless of how it happens, every fighter meets Du Plessis in the deep end.

Israel Adesanya is in limbo

The UFC 305 main event put Adesanya, the former long-reigning champion, in limbo. Now, he is 1-3 in his last four and doesn’t have a clear path for his future.

Adesanya has not fought in a non-title fight since 2019. That is what is next for him. In turn, he also loses his status as a pay-per-view headliner. That is a massive shake-up for the UFC. One of the biggest pay-per-view stars of this decade will no longer be a main event. It is a wild turn of events.

What makes Adesanya’s future harder to grasp is that he has already fought the best middleweights in the world. In his title run, he fought Dricus Du Plessis, Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, and more. That takes a lot of future opponents off the table. In order to fight a fresh face Adesanya will need to look at fighters like Khamzat Chimaev, Nassourdine Imavov, Brenden Allen, and Caio Borralho, among others. It is a far cry from his title reign.

Kai Kara-France adds another highlight to his resume

The UFC 305 co-main event produced a highlight reel knockout as Kai Kara-France finished Steve Erceg in the first round. It is another great finish for Kara-France’s highlight reel.

Kara-France has had its ups and downs over the last few years. One consistent during that time is that he is always live to land an impressive knockout. This has helped propel him to the top of the division. In a weight class that the UFC rarely promotes, knockouts like this help Kara-France separate himself.

The question at hand is whether or not this finish was enough to propel Kara-France to a title fight. The division is currently in an interesting position and other flyweights have a chance to earn a title fight in the upcoming weeks.

Dan Hooker is having a career resurgence

At UFC 305, Dan Hooker defeated Mateusz Gamrot for one of his biggest victories in years. More importantly, he is magically having a serious career resurgence.

In 2022, Hooker was 1-4 in his last five fights and was on the verge of being pushed out of the UFC. Now, he is on a three-fight winning streak and will find himself in the upper portion of the UFC rankings when the next update takes place. It has been a complete turnaround for “The Hangman”.

Hooker showed signs of getting closer to his fighting peak. At UFC 290, he used his durability and heart to defeat Jalin Turner. That was a classic Hooker-esque performance. What is crazier is that Hooker showed massive defensive grappling improvements against Gamrot. Was it elite defensive grappling? No. Still, at age 34 it was a career-best performance in that specific realm.

MMA fans should be thrilled with Hooker’s resurgence. The promotion can now book Hooker against entertaining lightweight like Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor, Rafael Fiziev, as well as others.

Don’t let Carlos Prates find the flow state

In the UFC 305 main card opener, Carlos Prates looked sensational en route to a knockout victory against Li Jingliang.

Prates used his length and sniper-like accuracy to land a bunch of big strikes against Jingliang. Additionally, his head movement was great and he did not absorb many strikes.

It quickly became evident that Prates found the flow state in this matchup. It felt like he was in complete control. At one point, he landed a Superman punch. Prates effortlessly and efficiently landed damaging blows. If Jingliang did not have elite durability, he would not have escaped the first round.

We will have to wait and see who Prates is booked to fight next. Regardless of who it is, they need to do whatever they can to stop him from finding the flow state. If he does, they will be in trouble.

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