South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis defended his UFC middleweight title with a fourth-round submission of former champion Israel Adesanya at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia in the early hours of Sunday.
It was Du Plessis’ first title defense after clinching the championship in January by defeating Sean Strickland via split decision in the UFC 297 main event.
Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland in his last outing in September 2023.
In the first round, Du Plessis landed first with a leg kick but Adesanya replies with a jab and delivered a hard leg kick.
Du Plessis looked for a takedown but his opponent defended the attempt and quickly circled away and delivered a leg kick to the body but the champion pressed forward and connected with a left hand.
Adesanya opened the second round with a kick to the body but Du Plessis pressed forward with back-kick to the body. Adesanya targeted the body again with a kick and moved forward which saw Du Plessis taking him down.
The Style bender tried to stand but Du Plessis took his back and looked for a rear-naked choke which the challenger defended and scrambled to his feet.
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He continued to target the body of Du Plessis in the third and landed a straight left hand and also a hard right hand to the body, but the South African responded with a right hand.
Adesanya connected with a right hand, tripped but got to his feet. Du Plessis quickly capitalized and landed a left hand but Adesanya reacted with an uppercut.
In the fourth round Adesanya inched forward behind his jab to start the fourth round and landed an uppercut but Du Plessis immediately went for a takedown. Adesanya sprawled and made the champion stand back up.
Du Plessis delivered a kick to the body and began moving forward. Adesanya met him with a combination and connected with a check hook. The champion landed a left hook that made Adesanya retreat.
Du Plessis then pressed forward and landed another shot and took Adesanya’s back and locked on a rear-naked choke which forced him to tap out.
