Dricus du Plessis, Israel Adesanya's Next Best Fights After UFC 305 Results

Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his belt against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. Now what?

The first title defense is a big deal for any new champion. There's some truth to the adage that a fighter isn't really a champion until they've defended the belt. When that first defense comes against someone as notable as Israel Adesayna, it matters even more.

Of course, the next question will immediately shift to what's next for the South African champion? A win over the best middleweight of an era and holding onto the belt are huge accomplishments, but there are other challenges awaiting in the middleweight division.

Here, we'll take a look at a few possible opponents for each, including Adesanya who now must pick up the pieces after his second consecutive loss.

• Sean Strickland
• Israel Adesanya
• Nassourdine Imavov vs. Brendan Allen winner

The next crack at the title already belongs to Sean Strickland if UFC president Dana White is to be believed. White has acknowledged publicly that Tarzan was going to be the first in line to challenge for the title.

Strickland dropped the belt to du Plessis, but won it by shocking Israel Adesanya nearly a year ago. He wasn't incredible in his split-decision win over Paulo Costa, but the division doesn't have another immediate contender that demands a title shot right now.

Strickland got the nod from one of the judges in the first fight against Du Plessis and he landed more strikes.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time that White reversed course on a promised title shot. Things change quickly in the sport and if the UFC executive believes there's a story to sell for an immediate rematch between Adesanya and Du Plessis it should certainly be on the table.

If something were to happen to Strickland and Adesanya doesn't have interest in an immediate rematch then the winner of the Nassourdine Imavov vs. Brendan Allen fight scheduled for late September would make sense.

Both are up-and-comers who are quickly working their way up the rankings. The winner would have a case to add some new blood into the middleweight title picture.

• Marvin Vettori
• Jared Cannonier
• Paulo Costa

It gets tough to book someone like Adesanya at this point. On one hand, he's one of the best to ever do it in his division. On the other, he's now lost three of his last four fights.

A move up to light heavyweight is probably not the right move. He's been there and didn't necessarily look good doing it.

All three of these possibilities would be in the same vein. All three are former rivals of the 35-year-old that are still ranked in the Top 10 of the division.

A matchup with Vettori would actually be a trilogy fight. Adesanya beat him by split decision in 2018 and picked up a unanimous decision in 2021. Still, The Italian Dream hasn't given up picking at Adesanya. Most recently, he took a jab at the former champion for getting emotional at a UFC 305 press conference.

The other rematches might not have as much heat, but could still make sense. He holds wins over Jared Cannonier and Paulo Costa already, but a rematch could tell us how much Adesanya still has left and whether he can get back to holding the belt before he calls it a career.