Dricus du Plessis defeated Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305 on Sunday.
After scoring some early takedowns, du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed.
But a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down which gave du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold which forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out at 3:38 into the fourth round.
"This man is the king of getting back up,” du Plessis said of Adesanya, who was bidding to become a middleweight champion for the third time. "I’m still alive, that’s a bonus.
"I came here to die for this belt and to take a life. I’m still champion, baby.”
Tensions ahead of Sunday's fight at the sold-out RAC Arena in Perth, Australia had escalated after du Plessis, in response to Adesanya saying he’d take the belt back to Africa if he won, asked whether he would take his servants with him.
Despite the simmering animosity heading into the fight, which saw both fighters refrain from touching each other's gloves at the start, the pair appeared to reconcile immediately after the contest.
"I’m really sorry that it came across that I disrespected the fact that he’s from Africa,” Du Plessis said. "That was never my intention. Africa would have won regardless, but tonight South Africa was the victor."
It was the third time the South African has beaten off challengers for the competitive middleweight division and the second time this year after he won with a split decision over Sean Strickland in January at UFC 297.
Next in line for du Plessis is a return title defense bout with Strickland at a date to be determined.
The 35-year-old Adesanya (24-4) was making his first appearance since returning from an 11-month sabbatical after losing the middleweight title by unanimous decision to Strickland in Sydney in September last year but said Sunday's latest setback wasn't career-ending.
"This is the best I’ve ever felt. I’m 35, I’m doing the right things. I’m not ... leaving,” he said.
Earlier, hometown favorite Steve Erceg’s was defeated by a first-round technical knockout in his flyweight bout with New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France. It was Erceg's first fight since he was unanimously outpointed by champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 in Brazil in May.
