Breaking: Du Plessis maintains his middleweight belt after defeating Adesanya via submission

At UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya by submission in the fourth round of an exciting match. Adesanya, a New Zealander born in Nigeria, was taken down by the 30-year-old South African and choked in the back naked.

After a contentious build-up, the two resolved their disagreements, and Du Plessis honored Adesanya after the competition. Sharing this octagon with a legend—this man has contributed so much to this sport—I'm truly sorry if I came off as disparaging the fact that he is African-American; that was never my intention. Regardless, Africa prevailed tonight," Du Plessis remarked.

"It was an honor for me to have such a legend in my cage. I greatly admire him; he is the epitome of a warrior. You may trust that I don't want to be kicked by that man ever again."

Adesanya, Francis Ngannou, who was born in Cameroon and later moved to France, and Kamaru Usman, who was born in Nigeria, had all moved away from the continent, but Du Plessis, who declared himself the "first real African champion," was still there. This caused a sour build-up to the competition. Following his 2020 UFC debut, Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland to win the championship in January and was making his first defense of it at the time.

As Adesanya briskly danced his way into the RAC stadium, the two appeared at ease as they made their way to the octagon. Springbok legends Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi, meanwhile, escorted out of Du Plessis's side after South Africa's 30–12 victory over Australia in Perth the day before. Both combatants had successful rounds in the first one, with Adesanya parrying Du Plessis's forward strikes and connecting with a devastating right hook to the body.

The South African answered with leg kicks. In the second round, Du Plessis made good use of his wrestling skills, taking Adesanya down three times while the two-time champion did a good job of fending off submission attempts and getting back up.

In the meantime, Adesanya, who was defeated consecutively for the first time in his MMA career, declared he will return after failing in his bid to become the first-ever three-time UFC middleweight champion. "I'm pleased of myself, but I'm also disappointed with myself. I just fought the better man on the night, and I admire him for that," Adesanya remarked. "This is the best I've ever felt and looked." "I know you all want to see me down and want to see me lose but watch this - I'm not leaving." Earlier on the evening, Australian Casey O'Neill, who was born in Scotland, stopped Brazilian fighter Luana Santos by unanimous decision to snap a two-fight losing run.