Predicting the next fight for fighters competing in a big UFC event is often easy to do for the winners but more challenging for those who did not get their hands raised.
Not only are the options less exciting than the ones available for the winners, but it is often difficult to predict when a fighter will return after a loss. Following the fourth title loss of his career to Dricus Du Plessis, Israel Adesanya could be back in December, or he could sit out until the summer of 2025.
Four of the five fighters who lost on the UFC 305 main card are still ranked contenders, giving them a bevy of options moving forward. Two of them, Adesanya and Steve Erceg, still hold status as recent title challengers, while Mateusz Gamrot was recognized for his losing effort to Dan Hooker with a $50K Fight of the Night bonus.
Needless to say, the losers of the UFC 305 main card fights still have a lot to look forward to.
Here are our predictions for who each fighter who lost on the UFC main card will face next in their careers.
It may be a while until Adesanya fights again, but there are only a few directions he can go at this point in his career. With the loss to Du Plessis, it is unlikely he will ever return to the title picture, but with his fan appeal, it can never be ruled out.
As long as he does not take another year off, which he does not seem likely to do based on his post-fight interviews, a top-10 clash with rising contender Allen makes sense for both men. Allen does not have the star power yet, but Adesanya said he wants to remain active in the middleweight division and already has a history with most of the other contenders. As a supplementary fight on a pay-per-view, Adesanya and Allen will add depth to any card.
With two losses in the last four months, it would be wise for Erceg to take a considerable layoff before he returns to the Octagon. By that time, Silva could be a top-10 fighter, potentially making them near each other in the rankings and an appealing stylistic matchup on paper.
Having fought just twice since 2021, there is a chance Silva will take another brief hiatus before making his return. Even then, the fight is a logical next step for both fighters in their careers. Erceg is still a guy the UFC is fond of, and the loss to Kai Kara-France hurts his progression, but he is still one of the best fighters in this division.
Even though he lost at UFC 305, Gamrot showed arguably the best version of himself on Saturday in his fight with Hooker. It is difficult to say that a fight like that has any "loser" in it, but Gamrot's title hopes have been significantly stalled with the defeat.
In what was inarguably the toughest fight of his career, expect Gamrot to take some time off. By the time he returns, Fiziev should be fully ready to come back from the ACL tear he suffered against Gamrot in the second round back in September 2023. The UFC likes to put together rematches of fights that were stopped prematurely due to an injury. and the timeline for both men lines up perfectly.
At this point in his career, it is extremely difficult to predict what will be next for Tuivasa after his fifth consecutive loss. The fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik was exactly what he needed to get back on track in his home country, but for reasons only known to him, he decided not to fight in his traditional aggressive style and play a tentative point-fighting game.
Even with his status among fans, there is a chance the UFC releases Tuivasa. But if it does not, he cannot be in the Octagon with another ranked opponent next. The upcoming matchup between Cortes-Acosta and Barnett in October seems to line up on paper, especially if Barnett wins. A matchup with Tuivasa and Barnett would be a fan delight, but if Cortes-Acosta comes out on top, he is every bit deserving of the fight.
Maybe Carlos Prates is just the next big thing — he certainly has the potential to be — but Jingliang definitely showed signs of his age at UFC 305. After a two-year layoff with multiple injuries, Jingliang was noticeably slower against Prates and seems to have lost the movement and speed he had that made him a fringe contender.
Regardless of when he next steps into the cage, expect Jingliang to face another veteran in his next fight. Dalby makes sense, as a matchup with him would pit two fighters near the same age and experience level, who are both just on the outside of the top 15, against each other. With two strikers who prefer to use their kickboxing rather than shoot for takedowns, this hypothetical matchup would be a fan delight.
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It seems like it might be a little longer before Deion Sanders can join the rest of his Colorado coaching staff. In a video recently posted by his son, Deion Sanders Jr, the NFL legend admitted that he's not yet fully recovered from his undisclosed health issue. “You know I’m still going through something,” the head coach said. “I ain’t all the way recovered.” Almost two weeks ago, Sanders took the stage at Big 12 media day, but he didn't want to address his health issues. “I’m not here to talk about my health,” Sanders said. “I’m here to talk about my team.” According to the Athletic, Sanders, who's recovering in his home in Texas, has been in close contact with his coaching staff. Colorado athletic director Rick George also said that Sanders would "probably" report to campus within the next two weeks, per the Athletic. The former Super Bowl winner has a long history of health concerns. He had two toes amputated in 2021 because of blood clots, and he went under the knife again in 2023 after reportedly dealing with some excruciating pain. The Buffaloes are transitioning into the post-Shedeur Sanders/Travis Hunter era and looking to build from last year's 9-4 record and big win at the Alamo Bowl.
Caitlin Clark might be the most popular figure in women's basketball right now, but she continues to draw shots left and right, both on and off the court. The Iowa product has stayed even keeled and mostly unrattled, but that doesn't mean she won't fight back. That's why, in the light of Kelsey Plum's recent comments, she decided to take matters into her own hands and clapped back at her with a simple, six-word message. Plum shared a picture of her during the WNBA's All-Star Weekend, which showed half of a Nike logo in the background. Clark was quick to spot it and just wrote "Thank u for the Nike ad." This happened just hours after Plum seemingly took a shot at Clark and her Team Clark teammates for reportedly not getting involved in their pre-game protest. “The T-shirt was determined this morning. Not to tattletale, but zero members of Team Clark were very present for that,” Plum revealed. “That really needed to be mentioned,” Sabrina Ionescu added while both laughed. WNBA All-Stars warmed up with a T-Shirt that read 'Pay us what you owe us,' ahead of their new CBA agreement, which is expected to be signed in the offseason. WNBA players get around 9 percent of the league's revenue, and they're asking for a bigger share since most of them also have to play overseas during the offseason because of the salary disparity. Plum is the vice president of the WNBPA, so it's not surprising to see her so involved in the protest and the demands. Then again, it's hard to understand the reasoning behind the tattle telling, as not only does it show that there might not be a united front ahead of these negotiations, but it also drives attention away from where it should be.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to explore ways to upgrade the roster following Mitch Marner's departure in free agency. The Leafs front office has been trying to fill in the gaps along the roster, and they have been searching on the trade front. One name that has been heavily connected to the Maple Leafs in recent weeks is Calgary Flames star Nazem Kadri. Kadri could replace Marner very well in the lineup, but it seems that a deal could be complicated to complete. According to NHL insider Nick Kypreos of SportsNet, Toronto has tried to land Kadri multiple times this summer, only to be rebuffed each time. Kypreos believes that a deal involving Kadri returning to the Maple Leafs could be unlikely at this point in the summer. Last season, Kadri posted 35 goals and 32 assists for the Flames. His presence has been steady on the ice for years, and Calgary could probably get a lot on the trade market for him. The Maple Leafs will likely continue to explore ways to pry Kadri from the Flames. But Calgary likely won't trade him unless it receives an offer that it deems too good to be true. But Kadri is the leader of this team, and he was the best player for them last season. Toronto doesn't have a lot of tradable assets to work with, which could be what is holding things up between the two sides. The veteran could give Toronto a nice boost, but unless the Maple Leafs up the offer, he isn't returning to town.
The New York Giants were routinely linked with quarterback Shedeur Sanders leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Giants ultimately traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart at pick No. 25. For a piece published on Monday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News revisited how Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll ended up with Dart instead of Sanders earlier this year. "Members of the Giants’ staff had fawned over Shedeur Sanders," Leonard wrote. "Giants brass had spent a lot more time with Sanders during the fall. Then, Daboll’s increased participation after the NFL season steered the process in a different direction." Sanders allegedly had a rough visit with Daboll ahead of the draft, and a report from early May revealed that "Sanders openly acknowledged during the predraft process that he didn't hit it off with Giants coaches." A different story claimed that Schoen "shifted his preference to Dart this spring as head coach Brian Daboll warmed to Dart as a player and person and Schoen rounded out his own evaluation" before the draft got underway. That said, Schoen raised some eyebrows when he said during a May interview that he knew the club would select Dart over Sanders as of "the week of the draft." Schoen also said the decision was the result of a "collaborative process." According to Leonard, those comments were seen by some as "not exactly a firm endorsement of a player standing out above the rest" as it pertains to the quarterbacks. "...Schoen’s lukewarm rhetoric and reluctance to stick his neck out about Dart caught the attention of some people around the league," Leonard added. "And it has put the rookie in a strange position: trying to validate support that almost sounds conditional." Meanwhile, Sanders fell to the draft's fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to grab him at selection No. 144. As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook had Sanders (+870 odds) and Dart (+1060 odds) as significant betting underdogs to serve as Week 1 starters in September. Cleveland is expected to go with Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett for its regular-season opener, while Russell Wilson is on track to start for the Giants against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 7. In short, fans may have to wait a long time to learn if Schoen has any buyer's remorse about possibly being talked into drafting Dart when Sanders was on the board.