What’s next for the Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya after UFC 305?

The UFC was in Perth, Western Australia for a UFC 305 card that saw the middleweight title up for grabs.

In the main event of UFC 305, middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis was looking to defend his belt for the first time against former champ Israel Adesanya. It was a highly-anticipated bout as the two have had a rivalry for years.

Ultimately, it was Du Plessis who scored a fourth-round submission win over Adesanya to defend his middleweight title for the first time. Following UFC 305, here is what I think should be next for fighters involved in the main event.

Dricus Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis has proved the doubters wrong again, as he scored a submission win over Israel Adesanya. Du Plessis has been overlooked throughout his UFC career and he once again made a statement. In the fourth round, Du Plessis landed some big shots and as Adesanya fell to the ground, he got ahold of his back and sunk in a choke to get the submission.

Dricus Du Plessis’ next title defense will be against Sean Strickland, as Dana White announced he would get the next title shot. Although Du Plessis thinks Robert Whittaker should get the next title shot, ‘The Reaper’ is booked to fight Khamzat Chimaev, so ‘Strickland vs. Du Plessis 2’ will likely be next.

Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya will have a non-title fight for the first time since 2019.

Adesanya is now on a two-fight losing streak after losing to Dricus Du Plessis and is just 1-3 in his last four fights overall. Adesanya will likely need to win a couple of fights in a row to get another crack at the belt. A logical next fight is to face the winner of Nassourdine Imavov vs. Brendan Allen at UFC Paris.

The fight can serve as a Fight Night main event or be on a pay-per-view card, as the winner would likely be a win away from a title shot.