Dricus Du Plessis completed a successful title defense after submitting Israel Adesanya in the fourth round of their match on Saturday. Adesanya, a former middleweight champion, was aiming to win the belt and have a go at another reign as champion, but failed and instead had to tap out from the match as he was getting choked by Du Plessis. 

The fight began with Adesanya seeming quite prepared. It was his first fight of the year and his first since losing to Sean Strickland last year when he also attempted to win the title. 

Du Plessis was as prepared and both men were equally matched in the first round. The second round saw the South African attempt the rear naked choke he used to win the fight, but it came quite early and Adesanya was able to counter it. 

Adesanya was also quite dominant as the third round began, and Du Plessis was on the defensive for a while. Still, Du Plessis still managed to strike a jab that shook Adesanya but did not cause more damage than that. The fourth round fared the same way until Du Plessis took Izzy down and choked him, eventually bringing the fight to an end. 

After the fight, Du Plessis paid tribute to Adesanya and apologized for having made a comment a while back that upset him. He said: “To share this octagon with a legend… this man has done so much for this sport, and I’m really sorry it came across that I disrespected he was from Africa – it was never my intention. Tonight, Africa won regardless. 

“It was an honor for me to share this cage with a legend like that. I have the utmost respect for him, an ultimate warrior. Believe me, I do not want to be kicked by that man again.”

The two fighters also shared an incredible moment backstage together, and showed each other respect. In his post match conference, Adesanya said he had always known Du Plessis was a fan of his but now, he was a fan of Du Plessis.