UFC 305 held an exhilarating event on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The championship fight between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya headlined the tournament, while Kai Kara-France battled Steve Erceg in the co-main event.
The middleweight championship fight was highly anticipated, and it proved to be an evenly matched battle as both opponents came in with their A game. Both came in with cautious steps but were able to exchange good shots. Adesanya was on the defensive, backing up and throwing long swings, but Du Plessis kept on firing and managed to land some precise shots, to which Adesanya responded in kind.
Du Plessis came in strong in the second and managed a takedown. He had the upper hand on the ground and managed to wrestle Adesanya into a choke. He succeeded a couple of times and almost had the Nigeria fighter, but Adesanya managed to wriggle out and get back on his feet. Adesanya looked like he was back in control and landed a few jabs and a deadly uppercut, but Du Plessis just kept on coming.
The champ wrestled two more takedowns in that round, but Adesanya wriggled through. In the third round, Adesanya managed to take control and land some really savage punches, but Du Plessis kept his head low and his arm up and kept eating the punches. He kept swinging his arms and trying to land some jaw shots. Adesanya managed to land a punch that fell Du Plessis, but he didn’t follow through, giving Du Plessis time to recover.
The fourth round started well for Adesanya, as he managed to land a few precise shots, but Du Plessis kept on coming with hard punching combos. He continued to pepper ‘The Last Stylebender’ with punches, and once he saw an opening, he took the fight to the ground and wrestled the fighter into a rear naked choke that led to Adesanya’s submission.
After the tough battle, Adesanya said, “ I already knew he was going to be tough. It wasn’t a surprise. I felt strong, able to resist his takedowns. I just made a stupid dumb mistake on the ground.”
Du Plessis, on the other hand, was ecstatic about the win. The reigning champ revealed:
“I need that takedown, got the takedown,” du Plessis said. “At this level, it’s hard to keep people down. This man is the king of getting back up. Nobody can take him down and keep him there. I got a few good ones, landed a few good punches, but ultimately I believe this fight was won on the feet. Here I am, and still champion.”
Despite this being Israel Adesanya’s third loss in a roll, the fighter doesn’t plan on giving up just yet.“I know all you motherf*ckers want to see me lose, you want to see me down,” Adesanya said. “But watch this — I’m not f*cking leaving. I’m not f*cking leaving!”
In the co-main event, Kai Kara France finished off his opponent, Steve Erceg with a hard left. The fighter came in with a lot of stamina and struck the Perth native with a hard left punch followed by a savage right that ended the fight with a TKO in the opening round.
Main Card
Dricus Du Plessis defeats Israel Adesanya via round four submission [rear naked choke]
Kai Kara France defeats Steve Erceg via round-one knockout.
Tai Tuivasa defeats Jairzinho Rozenstruik via Unanimous decision
Li Jingliang defeats Carlos Prates via round-one knockout.
Preliminary Card
Junior Tafa defeats Valter Walker via round one submission.
Joshua Culibao defeats Ricardo Ramos via unanimous decision.
Casey O’Neill defeats Luana Santos via unanimous decision.
Jack Jenkins defeats Herbert Burns via round-three TKO.
