Dricus Du Plessis crossed his ankles while submitting Adesanya at UFC 305

Claudio Martin

The main event of Saturday’s UFC 305 had been a long time coming, with Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya circling one another for over a year. When he entered the UFC as a former KSW and EFC champion, Du Plessis had quickly been seen as a future contender. Adesanya, then champion, had to first deal with Alex Pereira, but things appeared to be set for a showdown between “The Last Stylebender” and “Stillknocks” last year.

Then, Adesanya lost his title to Sean Strickland, one bout removed from having won it back from Pereira. Du Plessis made the save, defeating Strickland in January at UFC 297 in Toronto. This brought the pair to Perth for UFC 305, with Adesanya looking to become a three-time UFC champion.

The staredown to start was intense. The atmosphere electric. Certainly, the stage was set for something big to happen. Early on, Du Plessis mixed in leg kicks, and exploded forward in response to an Adesanya attack. Before long, Du Plessis was sporting a small cut. Adesanya was darting in and out, switched stances, and fired a kick to the body.

Dricus then crashed forward, grabbing onto Adesanya with about two minutes still on the clock. Adesanya, however, shook him off, forcing the action back to range. In the final minute, an Adesanya combination was punctuated by the kick; Du Plessis then fired a high kick that was blocked.

In the second round, Du Plessis went after a choke, forcing Adesanya to give up the back. Du Plessis took that, firing punches and wrapping up a choke, but Du Plessis fell off! Adesanya escaped to his feet, looking the fresher of the two.

Entering the championship rounds, Du Plessis appeared to be a little low on gas. His movements felt labored in comparison to Adesanya, suggesting that perhaps the earlier body shots had taken their toll on the South African. Still, Dricus continued to find it in him to charge in, hunting Adesanya when he could. A left hook did get Adesanya’s attention, and a stumble by Adesanya resulted in the champ exploding forward. He connected several times, and Israel Adesanya went down! Du Plessis went after him, took the back, and wrapped up a rear-naked choke. The choke was in, Adesanya tapped, and Dricus Du Plessis had the submission win, and the biggest scalp of his career! Retaining his middleweight title in the process.

True BJJ fans were offended at how sloppy that finish looked – complete with a BJJ faux pass – crossed ankles.

Official Result: Dricus Du Plessis def. Israel Adesanya by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 4, 3:38.

Claudio Martin