UFC 305: Dricus du Plessis Defends Middleweight Title With Wild Fourth-Round Submission Of Israel Adesanya

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He looked gassed, he looked hurt but Dricus du Plessis just looked like a champion now.

The UFC middleweight champion solidified his belt with a fourth-round submission win over former champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Saturday, reversing a fight that was very much not going his way to notch his first title defense.

After a somewhat even first two rounds, Adesanya grabbed momentum with surgical body shots in the third and was the strong favorite on the live odds. The larger du Plessis was having his takedowns stuffed and clearly having a good time, until a shot in the fourth wobbled Adesanya enough for the South African to put him back on the ground.

“I just made a stupid, dumb mistake on the ground," Adesanya said after the fight.

Finally, du Plessis got his arm in the right place and submitted Adesanya with a rear naked choke, continuing his undefeated run in the UFC despite a hostile crowd in Perth, Australia.

It was a brutal way to lose for Adesanya, who was fighting to become the second fighter to notch three separate reigns with a UFC belt, after Randy Couture. His striking was looking like his classic vintage and he was winning enough exchanges that the most likely outcomes were a decision win or the body shots adding up to a finish.

Instead, he is now left without much of a path to another title shot. There was some acknowledgement of retirement speculation in the Octagon after the fight, but Adesanya put a stop to that with "I'm not f***ing leaving.

"As for Du Plessis, he's now beaten three of the past four middleweight champs in a row with Adesanya, Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker. A rematch with one of them could be the next step, or he could face the fourth remaining champ.

Assuming current light heavyweight (and former middleweight) champ Alex Pereira is serious here.


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