UFC 305 Results: Dricus Du Plessis Submits Adesanya Via Rear Naked Choke, Sends Warning To The Middleweight Division
The hype is real and Israel Adesanya can’t say that he was playing possum this time around! No matter how odd his fighting looks, Dricus Du Plessis just showed the world (more to his haters) that he is the real deal and worthy of being the King of the Middleweights.
It was a good day for Eugene Bareman’s lads from City Kickboxing as Dan Hooker took the UD against Mateusz Gamrot and Kai Kara France came up with a thunderous KO of Steve Erceg in the first round. But things changed significantly when 3rd time title challenger and former 2-time middleweight champion Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya lost his match against fellow African fighter and reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Dricus Du Plessis wins via 4th round Submission, becomes first man to submit Adesanya
Even though Stylebender had his moments in the fight, the South African Dricus Du Plessis proved his mettle and eventually prevailed. Du Plessis was expected to come in with a takedown heavy game and that is exactly what he did. Adesanya realized success in striking and landed some really good body blows. But Stillknocks outclassed Izzy on the ground.
DDP did attempt a rear-naked choke in the 2nd round but Adesanya was quick to get out of it. But come the championship rounds, Du Plessis put the pedal to the metal and landed a few shots that set off the beginning of the end. DDP eventually got a rear-naked choke in the 4th round and became the first man to hand Israel Adesanya a submission loss in his pro-MMA career. Surprisingly, Du Plessis is also the first man to have a finish over Adesanya and top ranked middleweight & former MW champion Robert Whittaker!
Dricus Du Plessis Sends warning to Sean Strickland and rest of the Middleweights
In his post match octagon interview, Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier asked Du Plessis what’s next for the middleweight champion. ‘Still Knocks’ being the competitor he is, responded, “I don’t care about the opponents. I just want to hear AND STILL.”
As per UFC president Dana White, the winner of Du Plessis vs. Adesanya was supposed to fight Sean Strickland next. With DDP defending his title successfully against Izzy, his next fight will be against Strickland.
No possum playing, no good manifestations this time for Israel Adesanya
In his post match conversation with DC, Adesanya stated, “I was expecting Dricus to be a tough competitor, he was the better man today.” When asked what’s next for him, The Last Style Bender jokingly said he didn’t think this far, he didn’t manifest this. This was a thinly veiled reference to the DDP vs. Whittaker match where Adesanya was seen saying that he manifested for Du Plessis to register a win over Whittaker so that he can fight DDP. Izzy clearly stated that he is not retiring from the UFC just yet.
Izzy and DDP bury the hatchet
After the 4th round submission win, Du Plessis and Adesanya showed their class by hugging each other as both fighters buried the hatchet. Both fighters acknowledged each other and said that they never meant any disrespect whatsoever.
As a sign of respect, Adesanya raised Dricus Du Plessis’ hand after DDP won the fight and asked the crowd to cheer for the current middleweight champion. Eugene Bareman too was seen giving Dricus a hug and congratulating him for the win. In his post match conference, Izzy told the media that he would be happy to hang out with DDP when he visits South Africa.