Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight title by submitting Israel Adesanya in the fourth round of a back-and-forth battle at UFC 305, later showing mutual respect despite their pre-fight rivalry.
For Dricus du Plessis, everything went according to plan.
On Saturday, du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight title. He submitted Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305.
The bout was a back-and-forth battle over the first three rounds. Both men landed shots, and Adesanya mostly defended du Plessis’s takedown attempts.
But in the fourth round, “Stillknocks” took advantage of a retreating Adesanya. He landed big shots, scored a takedown, and quickly locked in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
According to the champ, that was mostly the plan.
“He had more heart [than expected],” du Plessis said in the post-fight press conference. “I said I’m taking him out in the third and I got him out in the fourth.”
“I could see at the end of the third he was starting to break down. But there just wasn’t enough.”
“In the fourth round, the story of the fight was — because I knew — look at my game plan,” du Plessis continued. “Me and my coaches … looked at what he does.”
Adesanya kept talking about being a new fighter, different from before. He aimed to stop du Plessis from going forward, which is his kryptonite.
“Every round, at the beginning, I stood my ground while he was almost dictating in the middle of the octagon,” said du Plessis. “But if you’re not used to fighting like that, you get tired.”
“I didn’t back off,” he added. “My coach would shout, ‘Listen, it’s time to go!’ around two minutes left in each round.”
That’s when du Plessis started pushing forward and getting success. Each round’s initial phase got shorter as Adesanya tired.
In that fourth round, du Plessis landed many big shots. “The man can take a punch, but you can only take so many,” he remarked.
Of course, everyone has a game plan until they get hit. Du Plessis acknowledged not everything went perfectly.
He credited Adesanya for his durability and kicks. The submission finish? Not planned—it just happened that way.
“I knew physically I’m stronger than Israel Adesanya,” du Plessis said. “He’s a master at getting back to his feet if you have his back.”
Whittaker had his back many times but couldn’t capitalize. Du Plessis landed hard shots every time Adesanya got up.
Adesanya focused on du Plessis’s hands on his hips and didn’t protect his face. Big shots might create a cut—that was du Plessis’s hope.
In that fourth round, Adesanya staggered from blows. Du Plessis saw an opportunity and took him down.
Initially planning on a knockout, body positioning dictated otherwise. As they hit the ground, Adesanya offered no resistance.
Du Plessis secured his back and straightened him out—it was over.
Heading into UFC 305, there was bad blood between them due to comments about being an African champion. But post-fight, both men showed respect.
Backstage, they shared an embrace. Du Plessis gifted Adesanya a jacket; Adesanya raised du Plessis’ hand as the true champ.
The moment garnered much attention from fans. As he puts his rivalry with Adesanya to bed, du Plessis explained what happened there.
“I never went after his family,” du Plessis clarified. “I respect anybody’s parents.”
He told Adesanya after the fight: “‘If it sounded like I was saying anything bad about your parents, that was not the case.’”
“As a warrior to a warrior,” he added, “we are not friends because we do not see eye to eye personally.”
But after spending time together in the octagon? Respect is inevitable for what Adesanya has achieved in the sport.