Corner stoppages aren’t very frequent in mixed martial arts, but one of the UFC 285 prelims Saturday ended after a towel was thrown in by a coach.
After Dricus Du Plessis turned the tides and landed heavy ground-and-pound, Derek Brunson’s boxing coach Dre Herd called a stop to the fight at 4:59 of Round 2. The bout took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The bout was a wild 10 minutes in which both men had their moments. Both men attempted leg submissions simultaneously in an unusual grappling exchange in Round 1 before Brunson (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) found significant success with his boxing.
Du Plessis (19-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) reversed the momentum with a massive leg kick in Round 2 that seemed to disable Brunson and limit movement. Brunson found the mark for a charging flurry, but Du Plessis responded with some hard punches including a right hand that dropped his opponent.
Once on the canvas, Brunson flailed his arms and legs. Du Plessis snuck through a massive left hand in the final seconds that clattered Brunson’s head off the canvas and got the towel-throw reaction from the corner.
Brunson's team throws in the towel!!@DricusduPlessis will leave #UFC285 with the stoppage victory! pic.twitter.com/SyQ5vbUmA1
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023
Du Plessis, 29, has won seven fights in a row. Other UFC victories include Darren Till and Brad Tavares. The other side of the equation, Brunson has now lost back-to-back fights by TKO.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:
- Dricus Du Plessis def. Derek Brunson via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 4:59
- Amanda Ribas def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Julian Marquez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:12
- Ian Garry def. Song Kenan via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:22
- Cameron Saaiman def. Mana Martinez via majority decision (29-26, 29-27, 28-28)
- Tabatha Ricci def. Jessica Penne via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 2:14
- Farid Basharat def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Loik Radzhabov def. Esteban Ribovics via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
