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Israel Adesanya has pinpointed the moment that decided his fate against Dricus Du Plessis, who submitted the former champion to retain the UFC middleweight title on Saturday.
The UFC 305 main event was a competitive and gruelling contest, with Du Plessis emerging victorious in Perth thanks to a rear naked choke in round four.
Up to that point, Adesanya had neutralised the South African’s wrestling well for the most part, while gradually taking over in the striking exchanges.
But Du Plessis landed three right hands in a row on a retreating Adesanya in round four, before dragging the former two-time champion to the mat and swiftly locking in a rear naked choke – or a neck-crank variation.
“I have to watch it again, because I don’t think I was rocked,” Adesanya said at the post-fight press conference. “I think I slipped and I was like, ‘What the f*** 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 there is always a blur. It’s still fresh, it just happened 20, 30 minutes ago.”
Adesanya was referring to a moment when he appeared to trip, just seconds before Du Plessis landed the trio of right hands that started the finishing sequence.
The 35-year-old continued: “I tried to fight the top hand [after being taken down and giving up the back], 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.”
Although Adesanya insisted he was not “rocked”, the ease with which Du Plessis took his back – and the lack of defence from Adesanya – suggested the ex-champion was not fully cognisant at that moment.
Evaluating his performance overall, the Nigerian-born New Zealander said: “I felt great. He didn’t really surprise me, because I knew he was tough. I felt like I was winning the fight. I hurt him a few times to the body, and I felt my shot was coming, because he kept on reacting when I was hurting his body.
“But again: tough dude, strong spirit. I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed in myself, but I’m proud of the way I carried myself this camp, and I came in ready.
“It sucks to lose. In my eyes, I was winning the fight until I wasn’t. As long as I performed, I made myself proud. I just don’t like the result, but again: I’m not hanging on the result. I’m just proud of how I performed.”
Du Plessis, 30, was making his first defence of the middleweight title on Saturday. The South African dethroned Sean Strickland with a narrow decision win in January, four months after Strickland took the belt from Adesanya.
Strickland’s decision victory over Adesanya remains one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. The result marked the end of Adesanya’s second title run, which lasted just five months.
Adesanya previously held the middleweight belt from 2019 until 2022, recording five successful defences before dropping the gold to his old kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira. Adesanya avenged that TKO defeat with a knockout of Pereira in April 2023, before losing the belt to Strickland.
