Dricus du Plessis taps Israel Adesanya with nasty rear-naked choke to defend title at UFC 305

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Dricus du Plessis proved once again that he’s the best middleweight in the world.

On Saturday at UFC 305, du Plessis put a nail in the coffin of his long simmering rivalry with Israel Adesanya by tapping out the former champion with a nasty rear-naked choke in the fourth round to defend his belt and cement himself atop the 185-pound division.

While nothing came easy, du Plessis showed toughness, durability, and unwavering belief that he would finally get to Adesanya, which is exactly what he did. After hurting “The Last Stylebender” in the championship rounds with a barrage of punches on the feet, du Plessis secured a takedown and immediately moved to sink in the submission.

DRICUS DU PLESSIS SUBMITS ISRAEL ADESANYA IN THE FOURTH

AND STILL. #UFC305 pic.twitter.com/v2O4F59kPv

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 18, 2024

Adesanya, with a grimace on his face, tapped out a second later, with the end coming at the 3:38 mark of the fourth round. Afterward, du Plessis embraced Adesanya as the bad blood between them was finally put to bed.

“For me to share this octagon with a legend, 100 percent a Hall of Famer,” du Plessis said of Adesanya after his win. “This man has done so much for this sport. I’m really sorry that it came across that I disrespected the fact that he’s from Africa, that was never my intention.

“Tonight, Africa would have won regardless. But tonight, South Africa was the victor. It was an honor for me to share this cage with a legend like that. I have the utmost respect for him, warrior to warrior.”

Despite a valiant effort, Adesanya just couldn’t crack du Plessis’ iron chin, and while he survived an early takedown and submission attempt, he failed to break free from the same position in the fourth round. It was understandably a heartbreaking loss for Adesanya, but he acknowledged his undoing while giving du Plessis credit for the win.

“I already knew he was going to be tough,” Adesanya said. “It wasn’t a surprise. I felt strong, able to resist his takedowns. I just made a stupid, dumb mistake on the ground.”

The fight played out with Adesanya displaying technical brilliance on the feet and du Plessis just finding a way to win by any means necessary. No one is going to mistake du Plessis for a world-class striker like Adesanya, but he continued to find ways to rush forward and blast Adesanya with stiff punches that kept the 35-year-old former champ off balance.

In the second round, du Plessis secured a takedown and battled to get control of a squirmy Adesanya, who refused to give up position. Eventually, du Plessis got the back and nearly locked on a rear-naked choke, but Adesanya broke free and returned to his feet.

There were moments where it looked as if Adesanya was going to really hurt du Plessis with a long punch or a huge uppercut, but somehow the incumbent champion just ate everything and kept coming back again. The technique from du Plessis usually involved ducking his head and plowing forward with a huge barrage of shots, but he always seemed to find a home on Adesanya’s chin just when he needed something big to land.

That’s exactly how the end of the fight played out, with Adesanya seemingly in control at distance and then du Plessis charging ahead out of nowhere and unloading a combination of punches to stun the former champion. Once he realized Adesanya was dazed, du Plessis kept blasting away with punches until finding the opening for the takedown, which led to the fight-ending submission.

“I need that takedown, got the takedown,” du Plessis said. “At this level, it’s hard to keep people down. This man is the king of getting back up. Nobody can take him down and keep him there. I got a few good ones, landed a few good punches, but ultimately I believe this fight was won on the feet. Here I am, and still champion.”

While winning the title was a monumental occasion for the South African fighter, du Plessis vanquishing one of the greatest middleweights of all-time helps cement him as champion. His résumé is starting to look awfully good compared to some greats in that division. As far as what comes next, du Plessis says line them up and he’ll keep knocking them down.

“I want to hear ‘and still.’ I don’t care about the opponents,” du Plessis said.

Adesanya removed his gloves immediately after the fight, but retirement wasn’t on his mind. Instead, he channeled his inner Jordan Belfort and promised UFC hasn’t seen the last of him.

“I know all you motherf*ckers want to see me lose, you want to see me down,” Adesanya said. “But watch this — I’m not f*cking leaving. I’m not f*cking leaving!”