No matter how long you've watched combat sports, every event allows you to see something you've never seen before. On Saturday night in Perth, Australia, Howie Booth, a judge at UFC 305, was relieved of his duties mid-event after submitting a questionable scorecard for the Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik fight. Rozenstruik won the fight by split decision as the other judges scored it for him (Charlie Keech 28 - 29, Howie Booth 30 - 27, David Lethaby 27 - 30), but Booth's scorecard and the aftermath took on a life of its own.

How bad was Booth's scorecard?

I have watched combat sports for more than 40 years and have covered it for 15, and I've never seen a judge submit a worse scorecard than the one Booth submitted. Rozenstruik controlled the fight with more accurate striking. From a statistical standpoint, in a battle with no takedown attempts from either man, Rozenstruik outstruck Tuivasa 91-37 over the three rounds. Rozenstruik also held a striking advantage of +10 or more in every round. There is no logical case to be made that Tuivasa won a single round, let alone all three.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only person who found the scorecard preposterous, as fight officials almost immediately moved to remove Booth from his judging duties for the rest of the night. According to long-time combat sports journalist Kevin Iole, Booth was supposed to judge the co-main event between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg, but after he proved unfit, he was removed from what would have been an even more important fight. As it turned out, Kara-France didn't need any judges. He scored a TKO victory over Erceg in the first round behind the fight-changing power in his left hand.

If we examine all three judges' cards even more closely, I'm not sure Charlie Keech should escape criticism for his submitted scorecard. I watched every second of the fight, and I have no idea how he gave the first round to Tuivasa when the latter was out-landed by ten significant strikes and didn't secure a takedown. Thankfully, no one on the card was robbed of a victory, but there were a few odd scorecards submitted. Here is a look at all of the results from UFC 305:

UFC 305 Main Card Results

Dricus Du Plessis retained his middleweight title to close out UFC 305, finishing Israel Adesanya in the fourth round following an entertaining back-and-forth between the two rivals. Each of the first three rounds were close and competitive, each man having their moments as the two traded blows. After Adesanya seemed to start gathering momentum in the third and early part of the fourth, “Stillknocks” connected with a left hand that clearly hurt Adesanya and chased him down from there, connecting with a couple more lefts before dragging him to the canvas, climbing on his back and quickly sinking in the choke.

This was an impressive effort from the middleweight champion, who continues to be a marauding presence with an excellent ability to stay in the fight and capitalize on every opportunity that presents itself. He’s now 8-0 in the UFC and continues to stand atop the 185-pound weight class.

UFC 305 Co-Main Event Results

Do not blink!

Kai Kara-France returned to the Octagon and scored an emphatic first-round stoppage win over Steve Erceg to thrust himself into the title conversation in the flyweight division. Erceg was doing well picking his spots and being responsible up to that point, but when the City Kickboxing man connected with a powerful left, it put the recent title challenger on the deck, and from there, “Don’t Blink” made sure to close things out.

The Maori standout was emotional after the victory, his first since March 2022. This was a statement effort and could very well elevate the former interim title challenger into a title eliminator next time out.

UFC 305 Preliminary Card Results

Carlos Prates vs. Li Jingliang

Carlos Prates continued his outstanding rookie campaign in the UFC by becoming the first person to knock out Chinese veteran Li Jingliang to kick off the UFC 305 main card. “The Nightmare” showcased his outstanding striking throughout, happily wading into the pocket to trade blows with the returning Li from the outset. After hurting him multiple times in the first, Prates stayed on the offensive in the second, patiently finding punishing shots before driving home a left hand that found the mark and put “The Leech” on the canvas.

A member of the Dana White’s Contender Series Class of ’23, Prates is now 3-0 in the UFC this year, with each of his three wins coming inside the distance. The streaking Muay Thai stylist has won 10 straight overall and continues to make his case for both Rookie of the Year and a place in the Top 15.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Tai Tuivasa

Jairzinho Rozenstruik turned in a patient, measured performance against fan favorite Tai Tuivasa on Saturday, staying technical to collect a unanimous decision win. From the outset, “Bigi Boy” was happy to engage in a kickboxing match, confident that his superior jab and fundamentals would be enough to carry him to victory, and he never strayed from the plan. While he opened up some in the brief moments where he had Tuivasa in bad spots, Rozenstruik largely worked in space, avoiding any big shots while significantly out-landing the Australian throughout.

The native of Suriname came out on the happy side of the surprising split decision verdict and picked up a second straight victory this year. It’s the first time since his 2019 rookie campaign that Rozenstruik has earned consecutive victories, while on the other side, Tuivasa had now dropped five straight.

Dan Hooker vs. Mateusz Gamrot

The fight between Dan Hooker and Mateusz Gamrot was every bit as competitive and entertaining as anticipated, with the talented lightweights battling tooth-and-nail for 15 minutes. Gamrot started well, showing improved hands and hurting Hooker on the feet before looking to grapple, with “The Hangman” defending well and wobbling his Polish foe towards the end of the first. The second was ultra-competitive, with Hooker landing the more impactful shots, but Gamrot holding his own standing while also putting the New Zealander on the canvas. In the third, the two men largely just traded blows, with Gamrot attempting to grapple in spurts, only to have those attacks largely shut down by Hooker.

The judges were tasked with determining the victor, and when the tens and nines were totalled, it was Hooker that came away with his hands held high, earning the nod in what was an outstanding fight between a pair of elite lightweight talents.

Valter Walker vs. Junior Tafa

This one ended with controversy, though there shouldn’t have been any. Tafa verbally submitted when he screamed out loud from the pain of an ankle lock. After losing the actual fight, Tafa wanted to brawl after the official decision was made.

Jack Jenkins vs. Herbert Burns

Jenkins decimated Burns’ legs with kicks and finished the fight with relentless ground and pound.

Ricardo Ramos vs. Josh Culibao

It seems safe to say that the referee may have jumped in a little too late, as Nicoll was out, and there is no way to know how long he was unconscious.

Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos

Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes

Song Kenan vs. Ricky Glenn

Jesus Aguilar vs. Stewart Nicoll

UFC 305: The Aftermath

Dricus du Plessis has defended his middleweight crown after choking arch rival Israel Adesanya into submission during their gruelling contest at UFC 305 in Perth. In a bout in which both fighters went all out, du Plessis landed some huge blows late in the fourth round on Sunday to turn the contest in his favour.

A left hook stunned Adesanya, before three rights helped bring him to ground. Du Plessis then rolled Adesanya over and put on a rear naked choke, with the New Zealander tapping out seconds later.

“This man is the king of getting back up,” du Plessis said of Adesanya, who was bidding to become a middleweight champion for the third time. “I’m still alive, that’s a bonus. I came here to die for this belt and to take a life. I’m still champion, baby.”

“I knew it was going to be tough. I was cracking him,” Adesanya said. “I was quite strong in there. I felt able to resist his takedowns. I just make a stupid, dumb mistake on the ground.”

And as for the future? “This is the best I’ve ever felt. I’m 35, I’m doing the right things. I’m not ... leaving,” Adesanya said.

Adesanya and du Plessis had made it clear over the past few months they didn’t like each other. Du Plessis’ comment about being the first real African champion, given he was born, bred and still resides in South Africa, riled Nigerian-born Adesanya.

The tension hit fever pitch on the eve of the fight when du Plessis, in response to Adesanya saying he’d take the belt back to Africa if he won, asked whether he would take his servants with him.

The tears flowed from Adesanya after that as he detailed the struggles he and his family endured growing up, before stating: “I can cry and whoop your ass at the same time. On Sunday, I’m going to f***ing kill your dreams.”

Du Plessis paid tribute to Adesanya after Sunday’s epic fight.

“To share this octagon with a legend, a 100 per cent hall of famer,” du Plessis said. “This man has done so much for this sport.

“I’m sorry that it came across that I disrespected him. To share this cage with a legend like that, I have the utmost respect for him, warrior to warrior.”

The pair didn’t touch gloves to start the bout, given their animosity.

Adesanya landed a series of powerful kicks in the opening round, but du Plessis worked his way back with some damaging jabs. Du Plessis offered his glove at the end of the round, but Adesanya turned away.

Adesanya was taken down early in the second round as du Plessis attempted to choke his rival into submission. The New Zealander was able to wriggle his way out of trouble before landing a series of powerful blows.

Round three was a slugfest as both fighters launched desperate bids to land a knockout blow. A reverse elbow from Adesanya got the crowd going, but du Plessis was able to reply with a series of huge punches.

Du Plessis’ accuracy with his punches in the fourth round opened the door for him to take Adesanya to ground again and finish the job.

Earlier in the day, hometown hero Steve Erceg suffered a first-round technical knockout in his flyweight battle against Kiwi Kai Kara-France.

And Australian heavyweight Tai Tuivasa slumped to his fifth consecutive defeat when he was handed a split-decision loss against Suriname’s Jairzinho Rozenstruik.