Dricus du Plessis beats Israel Adesanya in middleweight title fight at UFC 305

Dricus du Plessis just submitted Israel Adesanya, and sent him into retirement, while defending his middleweight title in a wild UFC 305 main event in Perth.

After walking to the cage with Springboks legends Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, du Plessis stunned Adesanya late in the fourth round, before locking in a rear naked choke 3:38 into the frame.

“I knew if I was in trouble taking on the best striker ever in this division, I could always get the takedown,” du Plesiss said.

After an at-times ugly build-up, du Plessis had nothing but respect for Adesanya.

Dricus du Plessis has been walked out to the Octagon by Springboks captain Siya Kolisi and front-row behemoth Eben Etzebeth. 

As first reported by this masthead, the rugby union icons were right in DDP’s entourage, and they walked to the Octagon to the South African national anthem. 

Despite saying he’d be the crowd favourite because of the amount of South African fans in Perth watching the Boks beat the Wallabies a night earlier, du Plessis was hit with a chorus of boos as he walked out. 

The Kiwi flyweight landed one of his signature overhand rights which dropped Aussie Steve Erceg late in the first round.

Blink and you’d have missed it.

Erceg somehow managed to get back to his feet, but another huge shot from the 125-pound knockout artist sealed the deal 4:04 into the first round.

When asked how he manages to pack such a devastating punch, Kara-France told Daniel Cormier: “It’s ’cause I’m Maori, bro, that’s why.”

No one loves fighting as much as Kiwi veteran Dan Hooker.

The 10-year UFC veteran scored the biggest upset of the day with an entertaining split decision win over Polish fighter Mateusz Gamrot, earning some of the loudest cheers of the event.

Gamrot was the big favourite, but Hooker’s striking and cardio led him to an emphatic comeback win.

Hooker immediately jumped on the mic and called out…pretty much everyone.

Tai Tuivasa’s UFC career hangs in the balance after a split decision defeat to Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

It’s Tuivasa’s fifth consecutive defeat since a September 2022 loss to Cyril Gane.

Tuivasa had Rozenstruik wobbled in the second, but the Surinamese heavyweight fought fire with fire and rattled Bam Bam immediately.

Things went wrong for Tuivasa in an instant when Rozenstruik checked a leg kick three minutes into the second round.

Mayhem just broke out after Brazil’s Valter Walker scored a confusing first round submission win over Junior Tafa.

Walker sunk in a heel hook with just seconds remaining in the opening round.

After the pair rolled across the floor, referee Steve Percival stopped the fight, saying Tafa submitted.

There was no clear tap on the replay, and even the commentary team was confused.

Casey O’Neill just pulled out a Raygun celebration after beating Luana Santos.

The Aussie flyweight was a level above Santos, and broke a two-fight losing skid with a one-sided unanimous decision win.

After Bruce Buffer announced her win, the 26-year-old immediately hit the deck and pulled out some of Raygun’s viral breaking moves from the Paris Olympics.

She even threw in the now iconic Kangaroo.

Jack ‘Pharjack’ Jenkins proved why he’s one of Australian MMA’s brightest prospects by putting an absolute beating on hapless Brazilian Herbert Burns at UFC 305 in Perth.

While Alex Volkanovski and Rob Whittaker are at the top of the tree and Jack della Maddalena shapes as this country’s next title contender, Jenkins might not be far behind.

The laidback, race horse owning, golf playing punter received huge cheers when he walked out to Darryl Braithwaite’s Horses, and proceeded to put on a striking clinic.

In his first fight since suffering a sickening broken elbow last September, Jenkins stopped Burns 48 seconds into the third round.

A year after quitting his job as a dishwasher at the Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane, Tom Nolan has scored his second straight win in the UFC.

The Big Train dominated Alex Reyes in the third fight of the day, walking out with a 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 victory.

Nolan was on point with his striking early, but was made to work when Reyes took his back in the opening round.

There were some wild striking exchanges over the closing two minutes of the round, with each man tagging the other.

American welterweight Ricky Glenn travelled all the way to WA and will leave with a sickening hematoma above his right eye and an L on his record in what could have been the last fight of his UFC career.

Glenn started well against China’s Song Kenan in the second bout of the day at 7am local time, but the southpaw was tagged with some big left hooks.

Midway through the second round, a massive bump appeared above Glenn’s right eye.

His corner put ice on it in between rounds, but couldn’t stop the swelling as Kenan claimed a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27, 30-26, 29-28.