Dricus Du Plessis put an emphatic end to his close championship fight against Israel Adesanya this weekend, submitting him in the fourth round to defend his middleweight title for the first time.
A competitive four-round battle between the 185-pound talents had a quick finishing sequence, continuing the reign for South Africa’s top MMA talent. Du Plessis found an opening for a takedown late in the fight after piecing together a trio of right hands against Adesanya.
Du Plessis was quick to get on Adesanya’s back after they hit the ground, allowing him to find a rear naked choke which forced a tap just moments later.
The submission finish for Du Plessis, which headlined UFC 305 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, ended a fight which was full of close rounds prior to the finish.
Adesanya landed a higher volume of shots compared to Du Plessis through three-and-a-half rounds, including a large amount of punches to the body. But Du Plessis was often scoring with the bigger, harder shots that would land flush on Adesanya and rock the experienced City Kickboxing fighter.
In the third and fourth rounds, Adesanya was able to start strong by pressuring the champ. But in both frames, Du Plessis eventually started to battle back and make the rounds much closer.
The best round for Du Plessis was the second, as his wrestling stunted the striking abilities of Adesanya for large periods of time.
The closeness of the fight was reflected on the official scorecards, which showed all three judges seeing the fight differently. While two of the three judges had Du Plessis in the lead after three rounds, the two who scored him ahead saw different rounds go in his favor.
However, the strong second round from Du Plessis was the sole part of the fight that all three judges were in agreement over.
Du Plessis is now just the second-ever middleweight champ since the end of Michael Bisping’s run to defend their title once. He claimed the belt earlier this year with a five-round split decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297.
When asked about a potential rematch with Strickland next, Du Plessis didn’t seem particular about who he wanted to face.
“I want to hear ‘And Still,’ that’s the only thing I care about,” he said. “I don’t care about opponent.”
Adesanya, a fighter who once dominated the middleweight division with a reign which lasted more than 1,000 days, was hoping to kick off his third run with the belt.
The New Zealand-based fighter was returning after an 11-month layoff, coming back after a massive upset loss in 2023 to the aforementioned Strickland cut his second middleweight title run short.
“I didn’t do what I wanted to do tonight, and yeah. I’m disappointed in myself but at the same time I’m proud because this is the best I’ve ever felt and the best I’ve ever looked.”
Despite suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, Adesanya insisted that he would be back. “I’m not f****** leavin,'” he said.
Here are the quick results from UFC 305:
Main Card (10 p.m. ET) (PPV)
Bout 12: Dricus Du Plessis def. Israel Adesanya (RD 4, 3:38) (UFC Middleweight Championship)
Bout 11: Kai Kara-France def. Steve Erceg via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:04)
Bout 10: Dan Hooker def. Mateusz Gamrot via Decision, Split
Bout 9: Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Tai Tuivasa via Decision, Split
Bout 8: Carlos Prates def. Li Jingliang via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:02)
Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET) (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Bout 7: Valter Walker def. Junior Tafa via Submission, Heel Hook (RD 1, 4:56)
Bout 6: Ricardo Ramos def. Josh Culibao via Decision, Split
Bout 5: Casey O’Neill def. Luana Santos via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Jack Jenkins def. Herbert Burns via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:48)
Early Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 3: Tom Nolan def. Alex Reyes via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Song Kenan def. Ricky Glenn via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Jesus Aguilar def. Stewart Nicoll via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:39)
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