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Dan Hooker of New Zealand reacts after his victory against Mateusz Gamrot of Poland in a lightweight fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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The Bigger Picture | UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya

Addressing Some Talking Points In The Wake Of Saturday’s Thrilling Pay-Per-View In Perth

UFC events at RAC Arena in Perth have a way of providing plenty to digest and discuss, and UFC 305 was no different.

These are the larger takeaways that have been rattling around in my head since the smoke cleared on Saturday night.

UFC 305: Main Card Results | Prelim Results | Official Scorecards

Time to Stop Questioning ‘Stillknocks’

As Saturday night’s main event wrapped, X was alight with people marveling that Dricus Du Plessis had once again managed to secure victory, this time successfully defending the UFC middleweight title with a fourth-round submission win over former two-time champion Israel Adesanya.

Dricus Du Plessis Post-Fight Interview | UFC 305
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Dricus Du Plessis Post-Fight Interview | UFC 305
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Each time “Stillknocks” emerges victorious, the same “how does he keep doing this?” series of questions are asked, all of which center around his off-tempo, unconventional style and body language that tricks everyone into believing he has to be suffering cardiovascular failure by the end of the second round.

Du Plessis baffles people because what he does in the Octagon doesn’t look like the picture they have in their heads of what a UFC champion looks like when they’re storming through a division and stacking up victories, especially in a division once ruled by the artful Anderson Silva and equally stylish “Last Stylebender” Adesanya.

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He draws even more “how does this keep working?” queries than Sean Strickland, the man he beat for the title and is likely to face next, because at least Strickland works behind a definable approach and operates in a somewhat conventional fashion.

Du Plessis looks and feels like an outlier to so many because the visuals they see don’t line up with the results that he’s been earning, and it prompts people to constantly question his skills and his place at the top of the division.

Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his submission victory against Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his submission victory against Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa)

But here’s the thing: the 30-year-old South African is 22-2 for his career and has won 10 straight, including all eight of his UFC appearances, and he’s been deploying this same style the entire time.

When Eric Nicksick and I discussed this fight for the Coach Conversation series, the Xtreme Couture leader referred to Adesanya as Monet, and I quickly followed by suggesting that Du Plessis is akin to Jackson Pollock, and that’s all this is.

The middleweight champion isn’t an outlier and he’s not getting by on luck or guile or anything beyond rare or unique; he’s just different, and being different is not only okay, but also clearly really effective for Du Plessis.

Instead of fixating on all the things he’s not or he doesn’t show, we should be focusing far more on what he is and what he’s done because those are the things that genuinely matter.

Dricus Du Plessis Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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Dricus Du Plessis Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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He’s an outstanding athlete that is always in tremendous shape, even if it doesn’t look that way mid-fight. He hits like a sledgehammer, is unrelenting in his pursuit of his opponents, and is incredibly durable, which helps stitch all these other pieces together nicely.

The middleweight champion has now beaten three straight former titleholders (Robert Whittaker, Strickland, and Adesanya), which is something no other current champion, save for Alex Pereira, can say they’ve done, and he finished both Whittaker and Adesanya, which is something no else has done.

And before anybody wants to offer up any “… yeah, but” qualifiers in an attempt to lessen the value of that accolade, remember that Adesanya was the favorite heading into the UFC 305 main event and many pundits believed he would reclaim the title for a third time, so any talk of his age, his recent results, or anything else is just post-facto info designed to keep taking away from what Du Plessis has accomplished.

Believe me, I get it — I called Du Plessis “a modern-day Keith Jardine, with much better athleticism” in the lead to this fight and that’s not exactly the type of fighter you envision running through any division, but we’re not dealing with style points here. There are no extra marks for making it look pretty or a set of mandatory skills and techniques you have to deploy in order to be eligible to win inside the Octagon.

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That’s all Du Plessis has done, and the time for constantly asking “How?” is over.

What Adesanya Did Was Uncanny

Israel Adesanya made his UFC debut, in Perth, at UFC 221 on February 11, 2018. Over the next five years and seven months, the City Kickboxing standout fought an additional 15 times, with the final 11 of those bouts being championship contests.

That is an insane schedule and only looks more incredible when presented in comparison to 16-fight stretches of some of the most iconic champions in UFC history.

Jon Jones’ first 16 fights under the UFC banner came over a span of six years, four months, and 25 days and featured nine title fights.

Israel Adesanya of Nigeria prepares to face Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Israel Adesanya of Nigeria prepares to face Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Anderson Silva’s 16-fight unbeaten streak from the outset of his UFC career ran six years, three months, and 15 days, and featured 11 title bouts.

Working backwards from Georges St-Pierre’s final welterweight title defense at UFC 167, a 16-fight stretch brings you all the way back to his clash with Sean Sherk at UFC 56, which took place seven years, 11 months, and 28 days earlier; he had 13 title fights in that stretch.

Kamaru Usman famously won his first 15 UFC appearances before dropping the welterweight title to Leon Edwards at UFC 278. That run took place over seven years, one month, and eight days, with Usman engaging in seven championship bouts.

Jose Aldo? If you count 16 fights from his UFC debut, that brings you to his bantamweight title fight with Petr Yan at UFC 251, which took place nine years, two months, and a dozen days later. “The King of Rio” engaged in 12 title fights during that time.

Israel Adesanya Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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Israel Adesanya Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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And working backwards from Demetrious Johnson’s final UFC appearance at UFC 227, 16 fights brings us back to the night “Mighty Mouse” challenged Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title on October 1, 2011, six years, 10 months, and three days prior to his loss to Henry Cejudo in his 14th championship fight in that run.

All these stretches and streaks are not created equal, but looking at them all together does put some context to the torrid schedule Adesanya kept right up until he pressed pause last year, and, I think, offers some space for understanding why “The Last Stylebender” hasn’t been as dynamic or successful over his last four outings.

Father Time comes for everyone and when you spend 11 consecutive fights readying for battle at the highest level of the sport, it takes a toll on you. So too does constantly jetting to the United States or Abu Dhabi or even Australia in order to compete in those contests. When you also factor in all the media obligations, which often include additional flights and travel, it all adds up.

While we’re accustomed to wondering “What’s gone wrong?” whenever a transcendent talent begins to falter, the answers are usually pretty obvious and easy to suss out if we’re willing to understand all that goes into being an elite competitor.

Israel Adesanya of Nigeria reacts after his submission loss against Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Israel Adesanya of Nigeria reacts after his submission loss against Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

And rather than question if they can ever get it back, we have to devote more time to celebrating what they gave us, what they accomplished, and how truly special so much of it was because runs like the one Adesanya embarked on from the outset of his career through last year’s loss to Strickland is not the kind of thing you’re going to see regularly at this level.

No other all-time great fought as often, against the level of competition he consistently faced than Adesanya did during that stretch.

Thank you, Izzy.

There is a Hall of Fame jacket waiting for you whenever you want to collect it. Then again, he did say he’s not leaving, so be prepared to add more accolades to his resume.

Carlos Prates: Rookie into the Rankings?

Carlos Prates Post-Fight Interview | UFC 305
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Carlos Prates Post-Fight Interview | UFC 305
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First-year UFC fighters aren’t supposed to make a push for a place in the rankings; that’s generally not how things are supposed to work.

Sure, there are a few exceptions here and there, but in most of those cases we’re talking about an established competitor that came to the UFC as a fully formed talent (Michael Chandler, Kayla Harrison) or someone that caught lightning in a bottle and was at the right place at the right time, like Volkan Oezdemir or Steve Erceg.

Carlos Prates is neither already established nor making headway in a division not usually considered a shark tank. Instead, the 31-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series graduate is plying his trade in the ultra-competitive welterweight ranks and handling every test placed in front of him with aplomb.

Saturday night in Perth, “The Nightmare” became the first person to knock out Li Jingliang, felling “The Leech” with a clean left hand to the jaw late in the second round of the UFC 305 main card opener. It was Prates’ third win and third finish of his rookie campaign, and it very well could elevate him into the rankings when they update later in the week.

Carlos Prates of Brazil punches Li Jingliang of China in a welterweight fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Carlos Prates of Brazil punches Li Jingliang of China in a welterweight fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Even if he doesn’t crack the Top 15, Prates is clearly on the cusp and someone that everyone should be paying close attention to in the welterweight division going forward.

There are a bunch of tenured residents of the Top 15 that should be keeping particularly close tabs on the 31-year-old, who has won 10 straight overall, the last nine of which have come by way of stoppage, as Prates is on the kind of heater right now that could garner him an early opportunity to face someone with a number next to their name, and he might understandably be favored in a couple of those theoretical matchups.

Either way, it’s impossible not to be impressed with what he’s done so far in his rookie campaign, and I’m curious to see what he can do both before the year is out and going forward.

Quick Hitters

Kai Kara-France showed why his nickname “Don’t Blink” is apt, landing a beautiful step-through left hand on Steve Erceg that kicked off the finishing sequence late in the first round. It was an emotional win for the Maori flyweight, who dropped a debated split decision last time out and had been out of action since suffering a concussion in training ahead of his planned bout with Manel Kape last September.

Dan Hooker Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!

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Dan Hooker Octagon Interview | UFC 305
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Dan Hooker is a certified savage and Mateusz Gamrot is a maniac, too. Their main card clash was one of the more entertaining high-level fights of the year and both should continue to land marquee assignments in the lightweight ranks after an outstanding battle like the one they turned in on Saturday.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik remained technical for the majority of his clash with Tai Tuivasa and it paid dividends, as the heavyweight from Suriname scored his second win of the year. It’s the first time “Bigi Boy” has earned consecutive victories since winning four straight to begin his UFC career, and further solidified his standing as a tough assignment for anyone looking to climb into the upper tier of the heavyweight ranks.

Valter Walker registering his first UFC win by heel hook was not something I was expecting at all. Props to “The Clean Monster” for timing the attack well and finishing, while also ensuring that he and his brother Johnny join the long list of sibling tandems to each earn wins inside the Octagon.

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Jack Jenkins looked outstanding in his return to action, battering Herbert Burns to the point where the Brazilian veteran was unable to continue. The Australian wants to fight in Edmonton in November, and should merit a reasonable step up in competition after the win he scored in Perth to move to 3-1 in the UFC.

People need to stop sleeping on Jesus Aguilar in the flyweight division. The Dana White’s Contender Series grad picked up his third straight win and second finish in Saturday’s opener, jumping on a guillotine and putting Stewart Nicoll to sleep. He’s 3-1 in the Octagon and his only loss came to rising star Tatsuro Taira; it’s time to see what he can do against more established competition.

And with that, I’m out.

UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya took place live from RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia on August 17, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!