Israel Adesanya thought he had beaten Dorricus du Plessis the way he wanted at UFC 305.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) was submitted by middleweight champion du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the main event of UFC 305 on Saturday in Perth, Australia. The fight was back and forth until the fourth round, when Adesanya felt the tide was turning in his favor, but du Plessis came charging in with combinations, dragged Adesanya down and tapped out via rear-naked choke.
“He’s tough. He’s stubborn. That’s the way it is,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Even if he was tired, I would sprawl on him. I think it was the fourth round? Early in the fourth round, he started attacking, so I hit him with one of the baddest sprawls, and I shoved his face into the mat, and boom, I tried to kick his body, and I told him to get up. (Referee) Mark (Goddard) said, ‘Get up,’ and he lay on the ground and took a breath, and I thought, ‘He’s done.’ So I tried to attack him.”
“He was still throwing punches at me, and I was like, ‘Damn it,’ so my momentum stopped there. He’s a stubborn guy. Most guys can’t do that when they’re tired, but he just keeps throwing, because I’m like, ‘I’ve got to stop his momentum,’ so he keeps throwing. Even if he misses, at least I’m stopped and I have to reset and punch him again, which gives him a little breather for a second or two.”
Adesanya is unclear as to what will happen next or when he will return, but he appeared to be in good spirits.
“I don’t know, but enjoy it while I’m here,” Adesanya said. “Enjoy it while I’m fighting. When I started watching the fights I was literally like, ‘Damn, I can do it one more time’ (laughs). I can do it one more time. I’m still in good shape and I can fight this weekend. But, yeah, we’ll see. I want to get back in the gym and train again, reset and regroup. So yeah, we’ll see.”
For more details on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC 305 event hub.
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