The judges’ scorecards weren’t needed for UFC 305’s main event, which is probably for the best given how tight some rounds were.
The judges were all over the place for UFC 305’s main event between middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.
A shocking fourth round submission from Du Plessis (see it here) kept us from needing to go to the scorecards, which is probably a good thing because we could see controversy brewing with the way things were adding up.
Two of the three judges had Dricus Du Plessis ahead of Israel Adesanya with 29-28 scores, while dissenting judge Ben Cartlidge saw it 29-28 Adesanya. The scores were all over the place. The only common ground: all three had round two going to the champ Du Plessis.
#UFC305 Official Scorecard: Israel Adesanya vs Dricus du Plessis (@DricusduPlessis)
Complete Perth Scorecards ??: https://t.co/Nwdw7Xmbwk@WestAustralia | #WAtheDreamState pic.twitter.com/J5sIQ01kQQ
— UFC News (@UFCNews) August 18, 2024
It’s all academic now considering Dricus won the fight via submission, but we’re just curious as to how judge David Lethaby saw round 3 for Du Plessis, given Adesanya almost tripled the amount of significant strikes landed by “Stillknocks.” We’ll have to wait a bit for the final stats, but “The Last Stylebender” was outlanding Du Plessis in every round en route to that fourth round rear naked choke.
So … bad scores? It could be worse. Ben Cartlidge was only a judge in the main event after the Western Australia commission removed judge Howie Booth for an incompetent or corrupt 30-27 score for Tai Tuivasa in an earlier fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
What do you think of the judging for Du Plessis vs. Adesanya, Maniacs? Let us know in the comments below!
For complete UFC 305 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.