UFC 305 went down on Saturday in Perth, Australia, and turned out to be a career-changing night for many of the fighters on the bill.

The main event spot went to a middleweight title fight between reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champion Israel Adesanya. It was a competitive contest through three rounds, but South Africa's Du Plessis ultimately defended his belt with a fourth-round rear-naked choke.

The co-headliner was contested at flyweight, where former title challengers Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg met in a New Zealand vs. Australia showdown. In the end, Kara-France asserted himself as the king of flyweight strikers with a first-round knockout.

The other biggest winners of the card were New Zealand's Dan Hooker, who defied the oddsmakers with an impressive decision win over former KSW champ Mateusz Gamrot, and Surinamese heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who slipped by Australian brawler Tai Tuivasa with a decision win of his own.

By the time it was over, UFC 305 had paved the way to some huge matchup possibilities in some of the UFC's best divisions. Keep scrolling for the fights we're hoping will be made when the dust has settled.

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland II

Dricus Du Plessis picked up the biggest win of his career in the UFC 305 main event, defeating Israel Adesanya by fourth-round submission. That's saying something, considering he already holds victories over Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, Darren Till, and Roberto Soldic.

From here, he has some options for his next opponent, but UFC CEO Dana White has already made it pretty clear who's next in line for a title shot: Sean Strickland.

Strickland won the title with a decision defeat of Adesanya last September, but lost the title to Du Plessis in a controversial decision in his first title defense earlier this year.

Strickland has been adamant that he deserves a rematch since the loss to Du Plessis. He didn't deserve the rematch initially, and arguably still doesn't, but after he beat Paulo Costa in an objectively horrible fight earlier this year, White seems to see him as the next guy in line, so there's not much to say about it.

It might not be the fight we need to see, but it's the one we'll probably get.

Israel Adesanya vs. Nick Diaz

After his loss to Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event, Israel Adesanya is now a tough 1-3 in his last four fights. The implication is that the 35-year-old MMA legend is nearing the end of his career.

That being said, Adesanya made it pretty clear in his post-fight interview that he's not ready to retire just yet.

If he indeed sticks around, there are seemingly two paths the UFC can take in his matchmaking. The first option is to give him the same treatment it's been giving featherweight legend Jose Aldo and match him up with young contenders on the fringes of the rankings.

However, that seems like an utter waste of the last few years of the legend's career—just like it is for Aldo, who would be much better suited fighting the likes of Dominick Cruz and Henry Cejudo than Jonathan Martinez and Mario Bautista.

Hopefully, the UFC sees reason and takes the alternative path with Adesanya: matching him up with other legends in the twilight of their career. If that's the way the promotion goes, the best option for Adesanya's next opponent might be Nick Diaz.

The elder Diaz brother, a former Strikeforce champ, is riding three straight losses and hasn't fought since he was beaten by fellow legend Robbie Lawler in 2021. However, he was expected to return for a welterweight fight with Vicente Luque earlier this month. That plan ultimately fell through, but it was proof that Diaz is still interested in competing, and we can probably expect him to be rebooked soon.

A rescheduled welterweight fight with Luque would be fine, but a middleweight fight with Adesanya would be way better. It seems unlikely Diaz would have made the welterweight limit anyway, and he and Adesanya are two of the most enigmatic and entertaining fighters in MMA history.

Book it, and prepare to be entertained—just like we were when Diaz fought another middleweight legend in Anderson Silva in 2015.

Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi II

Kai Kara-France made it look easy against Steve Erceg in the UFC 305 co-main event.

After his first-round stoppage win over the former flyweight title challenger, Kara-France is one of the top contenders in the division. While it's possible he'll get the next crack against reigning champ Alexandre Pantoja, who is riding a close decision win over Erceg, it's more likely he'll need another victory before he gets the chance.

If that's the way things shake out, we'd like to see Kara-France matched up with once-beaten Iraqi contender Amir Albazi.

Kara-France and Albazi have fought once before. They first met in June 2023. Albazi won that fight by split decision, but it was one of the most controversial judging verdicts of the year.

There have been grounds for a rematch between the pair since they left the cage last year, and now that Kara-France has bounced back with a win over Erceg, it makes even more sense. Book it for a pay-per-view main card or Fight Night headliner, and give the winner a crack at the champ.

Dan Hooker vs. Justin Gaethje

Dan Hooker was supposed to lose to Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305. Not many people would dare say it out loud, but Gamrot was one of the top lightweight contenders in the world heading into the matchup, and his meeting with the No. 11-ranked Hooker was little more than a way to keep him occupied while we wait for No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan to get his shot at champ Islam Makhachev.

Hooker evidently didn't get the memo.

The Kiwi lightweight veteran defeated Gamrot by split decision, but it was an amply more decisive win that the split verdict implied. He stopped the bulk of his Polish foe's takedowns, got up quickly when he hit the ground, and had some great success on the feet. It was one of the biggest wins of his career—maybe the biggest of all.

He deserves a big step up after the win, and he's definitely got options, having fought only a few of the lightweight division's top dogs before.

The best option available is seemingly Justin Gaethje.

Gaethje has not fought since he suffered a jaw-dropping knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300, but will hopefully be healthy enough to fight again by the end of the year. A former "BMF" champ, Gaethje is considered one of the most exciting fighters in MMA history and would meet a near equal in that department in Hooker.

It makes all the sense in the world and would make a perfect opener for any pay-per-view main card.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Sergei Pavlovich

When you lock two middling heavyweights in the Octagon together, you can be fairly certain you'll get a quick and brutal knockout win, or a slow decision. We got the latter when Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Tai Tuivasa met on the UFC 305 main card, with Rozenstruik capturing a split-decision win after three fairly forgettable rounds.

Nonetheless, it was an important win for Rozenstruik. The Surinamese kickboxing specialist is now on a two-fight streak, having also recently beaten Shamil Gaziev. That streak is proof that he's still one of the top heavyweights in the UFC—good enough, at least, to beat most guys outside the Top 10.

While it remains to be seen if the 36-year-old will ever make it all the way to a title shot, he definitely took a step in that direction at UFC 305. His next fight will almost certainly be against somebody in the Top 10 or even the Top Five.

Our pick for his next opponent is Russia's Sergei Pavlovich.

By this time last year, Pavlovich was considered one of the top contenders in the division, but after suffering a stoppage loss to Tom Aspinall in an interim title fight, and a decision loss to Alexander Volkov in his most recent fight, he's in a bit of a tough spot. He'll need to win his next fight if he aims to stay relevant, and a matchup with a proven contender like Rozenstruik seems like just the ticket.

The winner of this potential fight won't be in title contention, but the outcome will tell us a lot about where both guys belong in the heavyweight pecking order.