For Dricus du Plessis, things went as planned.
In the main event of UFC 305 on Saturday, du Plessis successfully defended his middleweight championship by submitting Israel Adesanya. Throughout the first three rounds of the fight, Adesanya mostly blocked du Plessis's efforts to take him down as both fighters exchanged blows. However, "Stillknocks" was able to take advantage of Adesanya backing down in the fourth round to get a takedown, land massive strikes, and swiftly lock in a rear-naked choke that would terminate the fight. And that was very much the strategy, the champ said.
During the press conference following the bout, du Plessis stated, "He had more heart [than expected]." "I told you I would take him out in the third, and I did just that.
the fourth. It became evident to me towards the end of the third that he was beginning to lose it. But that was just insufficient.
However, the fight's tale in the fourth round was—because I knew—look at my game plan. My coaches and I saw what he did, and he kept saying that he was a new fighter and that the old Adesanya would not be the same when he entered the ring. He knows that's how I fight and that's his kryptonite, so he's going to attempt to battle me and stop me from moving ahead. He will not do the same error that he did when facing Strickland.
"Therefore, each time around, you I was holding my ground at the start of that round, but he was in the center of the octagon and he was almost giving orders. However, you feel more exhausted if you're not used to battling under that much strain. That's because fighting like that is unfamiliar to you. And I didn't give up. On the outside, I was not battling; I was simply holding my ground. And every time there were about two minutes remaining in a round, my coach would yell, "Listen, it's time to go!" And I would begin to advance, advance, advance. That's when I started to — at the end of each round, I consistently achieved success. Additionally, each time he dictated, the opening portion of the round would be shorter, shorter,shorter. I hit a good number of long shots in that fourth round. The man has a certain amount of punching power, but not much more.
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The saying goes, of course, that everyone has a strategy until they get struck, and even du Plessis admitted that things didn't go according to plan during the fight. "DDP" acknowledged Adesanya's resilience and his kicks in particular, but he also acknowledged that he had no intention of ending in a surrender; it simply so occurred.
"I knew I was stronger than Israel Adesanya physically," du Plessis remarked. "He is an expert at returning if you have his back, to his feet. [Robert] Whittaker frequently had his back. How many guys have defeated him without being able to take advantage of it? I took him down in the second round with a few well-placed blows, but each time he got back up, I didn't engage in a fight. He wouldn't defend his face because he was too preoccupied with my hands on his hips, so I just controlled the strikes and made massive punches. My hope was that if they landed huge shots, they may make a cut. Throw huge, heavy blows, knock him back to the ground, and make him do all the work
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