Dricus du Plessis remains the undisputed middleweight champion tonight following his return at UFC 305 — landing a late fourth round rear-naked choke submission win over former two-division titleholder, Israel Adesanya in their title grudge fight in Perth, Australia.
du Plessis, the incumbent undisputed middleweight champion, made his first defense of the divisional crown tonight ‘Downunder’ — having landed the belt back in January of this year with a controversial split decision win over common-foe, Sean Strickland.
And sharing a close opening round with City Kickboxing star, Adesanya in their UFC 305 main event, du Plessis almost setup a rear-naked choke twice in the second frame — with the ex-champion battling his way out during an exciting early scramble.
Striking and plodding forward themselves in the third and fourth rounds, du Plessis would stun Adesanya in the penultimate frame of their headliner at UFC 305 — dropping the Nigerian-Kiwi with winging strikes, before taking his back and locking up a spectacular rear-naked choke to successfully defend his crown for the first time.
Below, catch the highlights from Dricus du Plessis’ win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305
WHAT A PERFORMANCE BY THE CHAMPION!
@DricusDuPlessis defends his middleweight title by forcing Israel Adesanya to tap! #UFC305 pic.twitter.com/SYa24zbUKa
— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2024
