Sooo … About Last Night

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:

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.