UFC 305 in Perth, Australia this past Saturday lived up to the hype and more. Drcius Du Plessis retained his UFC undisputed middleweight championship after submitting former champion, Israel Adesanya in the fourth round. After 14 months away from the sport, Kai Kara-France reminded people that he is one of the most powerful strikers when he knocked out Steve Erceg in the first round.
No. 11 Dan Hooker defeated No. 5 Mateusz Gamrot by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). This bout earned fight of the night bonuses for each fighter after a 15-minute war. Hooker out-landed Gamrot 65-64 in significant strikes while nearing knocking Gamrot down multiple times. Gamrot finished the fight with 4:59 minutes of control time on the ground while having five takedowns in the fight.
Hooker was a +300 betting underdog while Kara-France was +230 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
But after all of that hard-hitting amazing action in the octagon, let’s take a look at what is next for the three biggest stars of the night:
(MW C) Dricus Du Plessis:
- Winner of No. 3 Whittaker vs. No.11 Khamzat Chimaev
If it was up to me, this is the most logical next fight to make for the middleweight championship. Whittaker is coming off an impressive knockout of rising prospect, Ikram Aliskerov, who took the fight on one week’s notice.
Whittaker was supposed to fight No. 11 Chimaev but he had to pull out due to an illness. This fight has now been scheduled for UFC 308 on October 26 in Abu Dhabi. Although Chimaev hasn’t been active as of late, he is still one of the best fighters in the world when he enters the octagon. Chimaev is 13-0 with 11 finishes in his MMA career. Chimaev has been on the path to fight for a world title since he entered the UFC and with a win over former champion and top-three fighter in Whittaker, he will become undeniable at that point.
- Alex Pereira ( UFC light heavyweight champion)
The UFC’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, Alex Pereira posted a picture on his Instagram account, that he wants to move back down to 185 pounds to reclaim the middleweight championship.
There has been recent talk about Pereira moving up to heavyweight but UFC president Dana White has said that is not happening anytime soon. So if one of the top two fighters in the world wants to try to become the fifth simultaneous double champion, I would let him do it.
First Pereira would have to defeat No. 8 Khalil Rountree Jr., who he is scheduled to fight at UFC 307 on October 5 in Utah.
- No. 1 Sean Strickland
Dana White recently said, “Strickland deserves it” when speaking about who will be next in line for the middleweight title shot. Strickland dominated No. 8 Paolo Costa at UFC 302 after losing a close split decision loss to champion Du Plessis.
I feel that unless you are a long-reigning champion like Adesanya, you should not get another crack at the title until winning multiple fights in a row. If Whittaker or Chimaev do not have an impressive performance, Strickland most likely will be facing Du Plessis.
No. 4 Kai Kara-France
- Title shot vs. Alexandre Pantoja (UFC flyweight champion)
Kara- France also won a performance of the night bonus after finishing former title challenger Steve Erceg with 56 seconds left in the first round. Kara-France was away from the sport for over a year but with a win over a top-10 fighter, his next fight should be for a world championship.
Kara-France did lose to Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi before returning at UFC 305 but Moreno has already fought for the title recently and Albazi will most likely face Pantoja in his next fight.
No. 11 Dan Hooker:
- No. 2 Charles Oliveira
Before Hooker was booked to fight Gamrot, he was rumored to get matched up with Do Bronx. Oliveira is coming off of a loss to the next title challenger at 155 pounds, Arman Tsarukyan. Oliveira is 1-2 in his last three fights and needs a big victory to get himself back in consideration to fight for the belt.
When the rankings get updated come Tuesday, Hooker will likely see his name in the top five of the lightweight division for the first time. This is a perfect matchup and one that fans would love to watch as both Hooker and Oliveira are two of the most exciting lightweights on the planet.
- No. 3 Justin Gaethje
As we know, the highlight got knocked out by new BMF champion, Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April. Gaethje is 35 years old and has said in the past that he doesn’t want to fight too much longer. Hooker and Gaethje have both been staples in the UFC’s lightweight division throughout the past seven years. If this fight happens, it has the fight of the night written all over it.
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