Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa grapples with Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the middleweight championship fight during UFC 305 at RAC Arena on 18 August 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
- Dricus du Plessis planned to knock out Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 but opted for a rear-naked choke in the fourth round when the opportunity arose, securing his victory.
- Du Plessis credited his physical strength and control over Adesanya during the fight, particularly in the second round, which set up his eventual submission win.
- Adesanya admitted he was aware of Du Plessis’ strength but insisted he wasn’t rocked, expressing confusion over the sequence leading to his submission.
- For more sports news, visit the News24 Sport homepage.
Dricus du Plessis revealed that his strategy from the start was to knock out Israel Adesanya during their UFC 305 middleweight championship clash in Perth, Australia, on Sunday.
But the South African, known by his fight name ‘Stillknocks,’ chose a decisive rear-naked choke in the fourth round to secure victory as the opportunity arose for the submission.
Du Plessis, flanked by Springbok stars Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth during his walkout to the octagon after their Rugby Championship victory over Australia, successfully defended his title for the first time since claiming the crown in January.
WATCH | Bok stars Etzebeth, Kolisi go ‘crazy’ celebrating Dricus du Plessis’ UFC win
“We saw that in the second round, when I got him. I knew that physically I was stronger than Israel Adesanya,” Du Plessis said during his post-fight press conference.
“He is a master at getting back to his feet if you have his back. Whittaker had his back many times. How many guys have been able to get him down and not being able to do anything with it?
“So, I got him down in the second round and landed a couple of hard shots. Every time he would get back to his feet, I did not fight him on it.
“I just kept control of the hips and landed big shots. He was so focused on my hands around the hips (in case of a take down) that he would not protect his face. [I attempted to] land the big shots, [to] maybe create a cut, that’s what I was hoping for, landing big, hard punches and then get him back down to the ground.
“So, he has to do all that travel, get back up, carry my weight, hit him and hit him [then] in that fourth round, he was staggered from the blows. I could see when he went down. I landed big shots.
“I didn’t plan on taking him down (for a submission), I was planning on knocking him out,” admitted Du Plessis.
“His body positioning (at that moment) was just that of the best thing to do right now to take him down; he was not resisting at all, and he was out of it a little. I got back (of Israel), and soon as I straightened him out, it was over.”
At the time of the stoppage, the scorecards reflected a razor-thin contest, with two judges giving Du Plessis a 29-28 lead, while the third had it 29-28 for Adesanya.
READ | Dricus heaps praise on Adesanya after UFC victory: ‘An honour to share this cage with a legend’
There was always going to difficulty in scoring the fight, as both Du Plessis and Adesanya had their share of brilliant moments in every round until the decisive finish.
Adesanya confessed in the press conference that he was aware of Du Plessis strength but still believes that he was not hit hard enough by the South African.
“For me, I have to watch it again because I don’t think I was rocked,” Adesanya said
“I think I slipped and I was like, ‘What the f*ck was that?’ and then he was trying to catch me as I was exiting.
“I can’t remember how he took me down because everything in me is always a blur. It’s still fresh, it just happened 20, 30 minutes ago.
“I tried to fight the top hand, and I don’t know what mistake I made because I tried to turn into him, but then he got on my back because I was using the fence maybe?
“He switched to a Gable grip and then I wasn’t able to separate the hands like I wanted to. I have to watch it properly to really see what happened, but I felt great. He didn’t really surprise me because I knew he was tough.”