No one responds to adversity any better the Dricus Du
Plessis. In fact, the man seems to feed off of it.
The 30-year-old South African retained his undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title in
scintillating fashion and turned away Israel
Adesanya with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round of their
emotionally charged
UFC 305 headliner on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth Australia.
Adesanya (24-4, 13-4 UFC), who had never before been submitted,
raised the white flag of surrender 3:36 into Round 4.
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Du Plessis (22-2, 8-0 UFC) waded through considerable difficulty
before he arrived at the finish line. Adesanya zeroed in on his
body with hooks from both hands and well-timed kicks, attacked his
legs when the mood arose and pieced together stirring combinations
to the head. Du Plessis refused to go away. The Team CIT rep
executed multiple takedowns—he threatened Adesanya’s neck in the
first round in a harbinger of what was in store—and connected with
thudding power punches to the head. Midway through the fourth
round, Du Plessis put “The Last Stylebender” in a state of retreat,
clipped him with three straight clubbing right hands and dumped him
to the mat. He immediately jumped to the back, set his hooks and
cinched the choke before Adesanya could respond.
Meanwhile, longtime Adesanya stablemate Kai
Kara-France rebounded from back-to-back losses to Brandon
Moreno and Amir Albazi,
as he brought down ex-Eternal MMA titleholder Steve Erceg
with punches in the first round of their flyweight co-main event.
Kara-France (25-11, 8-4 UFC) closed it out 4:04 into Round 1.
Erceg (12-3, 3-2 UFC) called upon a range-finding jab at the start
and pressured the Kiwi onto the back foot. It mattered not.
Kara-France stepped forward and floored the Wilkes Martial Arts rep
with a crushing left hook. He followed up with punches, slipped out
of an attempted takedown and allowed Erceg to return to an upright
position. Kara-France then pressed him to the fence and uncorked a
devastating right cross that dropped “Astro Boy” to a seated
position, forcing him to turtle in a defensive shell while turning
away from contact. More punches followed before referee Rich
Mitchell could arrive on the scene to wave it off.
The victory was Kara-France’s first since March 26, 2022.
Further down the card, beloved City Kickboxing standout Dan Hooker
outlasted former two-division KSW champion Mateusz
Gamrot to a split decision in a stellar three-round lightweight
showcase. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Mick Meany for
Gamrot, Ben Cartlidge and Mark Christie for Hooker.
Gamrot (24-3, 7-3 UFC) initially held his own in the standup
exchanges and even dropped “The Hangman” to a knee with a counter
overhand right in the first round. He took top position and
unleashed a hellacious barrage of ground-and-pound, but it was not
enough to break Hooker (24-12, 14-8 UFC). From there, momentum
shifted back and forth. Hooker, his face badly swollen and bleeding
from multiple cuts, denied takedowns with an effective sprawl, the
ever-present threat of a guillotine choke and slashing elbows to
the side of the head. A bell-to-bell war unfolded as a result. They
traded shots across the final five minutes, with neither man giving
much ground. Hooker’s ability to shut down takedowns and pile up
damage while doing so perhaps provided the difference.
Hooker will enter his next assignment on a three-fight winning
streak.
Elsewhere, American Top Team’s Jairzinho
Rozenstruik leaned on a potent jab, stinging leg kicks and
tactical power punching volleys, as he laid claim to a split
decision over Tai Tuivasa
in a three-round heavyweight attraction. Judges Charlie Keech and
David Lethaby saw it 29-28 and 30-27 for Rozenstruik, while Howie
Booth cast a dumbfounding 30-27 scorecard for Tuivasa.
Rozenstruik (15-5, 9-5 UFC) fought at his desired pace and put
plenty of damage on his opponent, leaving him with a cut near his
right eye and another across the bridge of his nose. Tuivasa (14-8,
8-8 UFC) picked up his pace after a slow start but could not match
the Surinamese kickboxer skill for skill. Even when he was drawn
into wild exchanges, Rozenstruik emerged no worse for wear and
having widened his lead.
Winless since February 2022, Tuivasa has lost five bouts in a
row.
Finally, burgeoning Fighting Nerds star Carlos
Prates punched out Jingliang
Li in the second round of their welterweight appetizer. The
historically durable Li (19-9, 11-7 UFC) met his end 4:02 into
Round 2, suffering the first knockout loss of his 28-fight
career.
Prates (20-6, 3-0 UFC) picked his spots and did so with surgical
precision. He chipped away at Li’s defenses across the first five
minutes, attacked his base with low kicks and buckled his knees
with clean punches to the head more than once. Prates stuck to a
methodical approach in the middle stanza, eventually sitting down
the Kill Cliff Fight Club rep with a blistering one-two. The
Brazilian gave chase, landed virtually every punch he threw and
wiped out Li with one final left hook. He could not have been more
efficient.
The 31-year-old Prates has rattled off 10 straight victories, the
last nine via knockout.
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