UFC 305 takeaways: Time to stop doubting Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis retained the UFC middleweight title for the first time Saturday, defeating Israel Adesanya via fourth-round submission in the UFC 305 main event in Perth, Australia.

In the co-headliner, Kai Kara-France earned an upset knockout win over former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg in a potential No. 1 contender bout.

Here are four takeaways from the pay-per-view event.

Awkward but effective: The Du Plessis way

As awkward, unorthodox, or bad as Du Plessis may look at times, in eight UFC fights, the South African has proven time and time again that he deserves to be here.

It's time to stop doubting him.

Du Plessis turned in a victory for the ages in his first title defense against Adesanya, the former two-time champion whom many expected to begin a third reign Saturday night. The win didn't come easy, but instead in true Du Plessis fashion. Midway through Round 4, Adesanya was enjoying all kinds of success on the feet, landing heavy punches to Du Plessis' head and body and largely controlling the distance.

In what had been a competitive fight through three rounds, Adesanya seemed to have picked up the pace, while Du Plessis was slowing down. It was Adesanya's fight to lose. But Du Plessis turned the tables in a matter of seconds by tagging Adesanya on the feet with a series of right hands, grabbing hold of him, and sinking in a rear-naked choke submission to force the tap.

Half the time Du Plessis steps into the Octagon, it doesn't look like he should win. He isn't technically sound, often looks tired, and finds himself off balance in striking exchanges. Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, and Darren Till all had success against him before eventually wilting to his pressure. Heck, even Brad Tavares made it a dirty fight.

But Du Plessis consistently finds ways to win, and that trait has never been more on display than it was against Adesanya. The 30-year-old is opportunistic and doesn't need to win rounds to win fights. When you step into the cage opposite him, you're never safe. Du Plessis is a funky fighter to say the least, but his style works for him. It's effective. You don't beat Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Whittaker in three straight fights by pure chance. Time to put some respect on Du Plessis' name, because he could be here for a while.

Adesanya proved he's not washed

It's hard to know where Adesanya goes from here. Suddenly, the man whom many consider the greatest middleweight of this era is on the first losing streak of his career. For the first time in 13 fights, his next Octagon appearance most likely won't be for a title.

Life comes at you fast.

The good news for Adesanya is that he didn't look overly past his prime against Du Plessis. There's an argument to be made he indeed has lost a step or two - that tends to be the case whenever all-time greats who went on long winning streaks start losing routinely. But one judge had Adesanya winning 29-28 heading into the fourth round, and he was in control of that round before the submission. His loss to Strickland last September left a lot to be desired and created a lot of questions about where the Nigerian-born New Zealander was in his career. But Adesanya showed against Du Plessis that he's still a championship-caliber middleweight.

Still, it won't be an easy road for Adesanya to get back to a title opportunity. There's a lot of tape on him for future opponents to study, and with his type of striking style, you have to be awfully perfect to win fights. Adesanya got caught by a few shots on the feet, and before he knew it, Du Plessis was on his back choking him out. He said it himself: One mistake and he lost the fight.

Adesanya has what it takes to climb to the top of the division again, but as time goes on, his margin for error will only decrease more and more.

30-27 Tuivasa was arguably worst scorecard in UFC history

When Bruce Buffer read a 30-27 scorecard in favor of Tai Tuivasa after his heavyweight bout against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, people assumed it was an error.

But rest assured, judge Howie Booth indeed somehow gave Tuivasa all three rounds in a fight largely dominated by Rozenstruik, who ultimately won by split decision.

There's a lot of hyperbole in MMA discussions online, but I am dead serious when I say 30-27 Tuivasa is the worst scorecard I've seen in 10-plus years of watching and writing about the sport. Statistics don't tell the full story of any fight, but we can lean on them pretty heavily in this case. Here's the math:

• In Round 1, Rozenstruik outlanded Tuivasa 19-9
• In Round 2, Rozenstruik outlanded Tuivasa 36-13
• In Round 3, Rozenstruik outlanded Tuivasa 36-15
• In total significant strikes, Rozenstruik outlanded Tuivasa 91-37
• Neither man attempted a takedown

Does that sound like the kind of fight where Tuivasa not only earned a victory, but won all three rounds? Nope, not at all. For what it's worth, all 15 media members who submitted scorecards to MMADecisions.com had it 30-27 Rozenstruik. Not even a single one had it 29-28 Rozenstruik - that's how clear-cut the fight was.

After turning in the egregious Tuivasa scorecard, Booth was rightfully dismissed for the rest of the event (he was slated to judge the co-main event between Kara-France and Erceg). If Booth truly felt Tuivasa deserved to win all three rounds, that man needs to go back to judging school ASAP and should not be working any major events for the foreseeable future, if ever again.

Prates a name to watch at 170 pounds

Arguably no man impressed more at UFC 305 than welterweight up-and-comer Carlos Prates.

The Brazilian looked like a sniper on the feet in his main-card opener against Li Jingliang, pounding the Chinese fighter with heavy shots before finally becoming the first man to knock him out with a hellacious left hand in the second round.

Prates is 31 years old and has 26 pro fights (including three in the UFC) under his belt, but he's just now getting recognition as perhaps a future contender at 170 pounds. Prates is big for the division at 6-foot-1 with a 78-inch reach, and if he continues to perform like he did against Li, it won't be long until he finds himself in the top 15 and upward.