UFC 305 fight grades -- Du Plessis, Kara-France, Prates earn top marks - ESPN

UFC 305 was headlined by a grudge match between middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former titleholder Israel Adesanya. But aside from a historic main event that saw two Africans compete for a world title in Perth, Australia, UFC 305 featured several fights that would have significant ramifications on the rankings.

There were emerging stars who needed to answer questions about their future (Dricus Du Plessis, Steve Erceg, Carlos Prates), long-tenured fighters seeking to prove their worth (Dan Hooker, Tai Tuivasa, Kai Kara-France) and one of the greatest middleweights of all time looking to recapture past glory (Israel Adesanya).

Did they deliver? More importantly, did the fights deliver the thrills and excitement for the fans?

After each UFC pay-per-view, we break down and assess the quality of each fight and the fight card as a whole based on skill displayed, competitiveness and what is at stake.

Grade: A

Du Plessis put a stamp on his current title run by turning back Adesanya in a thrilling back-and-forth battle between the past and present of the middleweight division. It's strange to call Adesanya the past, considering all that he's done in just a few years. However, Du Plessis is certainly the present after demonstrating the ability to dig himself out of what seemed to be a hole in the fourth round to be the first man to submit «The Last Stylebender.»

It was a high-level battle between contrasting styles where both fighters had their moments. But the South African's ability to mix his pressurized striking with wrestling was the key to victory. Each strike was thrown with bad intentions and every Du Plessis takedown heightened the sense of drama. The arena was rocking, the ebbs and flows were exciting, and