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Brett Okamoto, ESPN Editor
UFC 305 was full of surprises. The fight, which took place in Perth, Australia and featured a host of fighters from Oceania, featured some intense action and some spectacular finishes — including Carlos Prates‘spectacular takedown of veteran’ Lee Kim Luong.
In the main event, the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis successfully defended his title against the former champion. Israel Adesanya via fourth-round submission. With the win, Du Plessis remains undefeated in the Octagon (8-0) and has now defeated three of the previous four fighters to hold the belt in front of him.
In the co-main event, Kai Kara-France made an impressive return after a year of absence with a knockout victory in the first round Steve Erceg. A Kara-France win could be enough to put him in title contention.
What’s next for the middleweight champion? Who will Adesanya face after suffering back-to-back losses? Here’s what the top stars at UFC 305 are up to next:
Dricus Du Plessis, middleweight
Who will be next: Sean Strickland
UFC CEO Dana White calling Strickland the No. 1 contender ahead of UFC 305 is surprising — he hasn’t made such announcements ahead of time lately. But this much is clear. The Du Plessis-Strickland title fight in January was exciting and very close. If the UFC decided to do a rematch right away, it would be warranted, although I’m glad the promotion booked the Israel Adesanya fight first. The Du Plessis-Adesanya fight is long overdue. But now there’s nothing standing in the way of the rematch, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in December. We started 2024 with a Du Plessis vs. Strickland pay-per-view, and now we can close 2024 with the rematch.
Wild Card: Winner Robert Whittaker compared to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308
This may not be a realistic option. Whittaker lost to Du Plessis 14 months ago. I find it hard to believe he can overcome Strickland, no matter how impressive his record is. And Chimaev is not dynamic enough to overcome anyone. If Whittaker wins, I could see him having a shot at the title, but not before Du Plessis and Strickland face off again.
Israel Adesanya, middleweight
Who’s next: Khamzat Chimaev, if he loses to Robert Whittaker
Adesanya is certainly at a crossroads here. On the one hand, you don’t want to be too dramatic about his troubles. He’s taken down Alex Pereira last year at UFC 287. He gave Du Plessis trouble on multiple occasions at UFC 305. He’s still an elite fighter, but one wonders how much longer he can maintain this level. And competing at the top is one thing; winning at the top is another.
While I don’t want to overreact, he’s 1-3 in his last four fights and seems to have lost some of his mojo. No one knows when he’ll be back, but if and when he does, a new fight makes sense. An Adesanya-Chimaev fight seemed inevitable a year or two ago. Now it feels like anything but a guarantee. I’d still like to see it, and I think it would be motivating for both of them.
Wild Card: Winner Brendan Allen compared to Nassourdine Imavov
I can’t even imagine it, to be honest. Twelve straight title fights for Adesanya, and now he’s going to move on to a title fight where he has next to nothing to gain? But if he’s not going to fight someone like Chimaev, then who? The UFC will probably just drop him down the rankings and give someone like Allen or Imavov a shot to move up. So if Adesanya gets the itch to come back anytime soon, you can’t rule out a fight like this.
Kai Kara-France, men’s flyweight
Who will be next: Alexandre Pantoja
It’s hard to see why Kara-France isn’t the next title challenger. Right now, there aren’t many other options for the champion. While he hasn’t lost to Pantoja, Kara-France lost to him on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016. He just knocked out his most recent title challenger in the first round at UFC 305. And he has all the tools to potentially take down Pantoja. Many are coming off losses or taking time off. This isn’t just the best option for a flyweight title fight, it’s the only option.
Wild Card: Manel Cape
I only include this because there is real tension between these two and this is a fight that has to happen at some point. But some strange things would have to happen for it to happen next, as Kape just lost in a rather surprising way to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 304.
Dan Hookerlight
Who will be next: Charles Oliveira
Let’s have some fun with this one. After what he did at UFC 305, there’s no shortage of options for Hooker. He beat Mateusz Gamrot — few in the sport predicted he would do it — and he did it in Fight of the Night. Hooker’s discouraging losses (Michael Chandler, Islam Makhachev) and his disastrous move up to featherweight against Arnold Allen now just a distant memory. He can fight Dustin Poirier again, or Chandler again, or face Justin Gaethje. Oliveira seems like the most interesting option out of all of those. You really can’t go wrong with any of them, but Oliveira would be my top pick.
Wild Card: Justin Gaethje
Gaethje is my second favorite, and the timing could work. Gaethje vs. Hooker in December? Maybe the same fight as teammate Kara-France in the title fight?
Carlos Prates, welterweight
Who will be next: Khaos Williams
The possibilities are endless. Prates has shined through his three UFC appearances. And I think the UFC has identified him as a name for the future. Giving him a recognizable opponent like Li Jingliang on the main card of a PPV tells you what the company thinks of the 31-year-old. There are plenty of interesting potential fights for him next. Give him legitimate opponents, but probably no one who isn’t ranked yet. Fellow strikers like Punahele Soriano, Randy Brown And Jake Matthews could be options. Any of them would make sense and be extremely appealing. However, Williams is my pick. I would take it a little higher than the others. But that would be the type of opponent.
Wild Card: Vicente Luque
Or, the UFC could choose to strike while the iron is hot and put Prates in with a ranked fighter like Luque. Luque has been teased a bit with Nick Diaz match, but I don’t see that fight happening anytime soon (or ever, to be honest), so he needs a new opponent and Prates would be fireworks. If Prates takes out Luque like he took out everyone else, he’ll quickly have more opponents with a number next to their name, and who knows? Maybe he’s ready for that.
