Saeed Khan / AFP
Dricus du Plessis broke the nose of his opponent, Sean Strickland, as he successfully defended his middle-weight title in Sydney, Australia on Sunday morning
Speaking post-fight, Du Plessis said his goal when he entered the ring was to knock-out his opponent, but admitted this was "next to impossible".
The South African champion said he would have loved another round, but conceded "that was not the game", adding that he was looking for a "submission, a knock-out, or absolute domination of the five-rounder".
Du Plessis said he gave his all, and thanked the crowd in Sydney who had also booed him during the fight but cheered at the end of the fight.
"Sean is an absolute animal. He is deserving of all the hype. Thank you Sydney you are incredible," he said clutching the belt he retained by a unanimous decision.
The world champion said, like in the first fight, he tried to force Strickland to make it a wrestling fight to allow him to engage him. "I got that take-down, I didn't plan it, but it was there, I took it".
Du Plessis said his game plan was to stay calm, but it was really hard. When I saw him, I got a bit over excited and realised "he was running hard" and there was no need to "outpunch" himself.
The 31-year-old won 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 to boost his win-loss record to 23-2 and cement his status as mixed martial arts' top 185-pound fighter.
Du Plessis first claimed the belt when he beat Strickland via a close split decision in Toronto in January last year, a fight the polarising American repeatedly insisted he won.
The South African launched a successful defence against Nigeria-born Israel Adesanya in August, while Strickland rebounded with a tepid defeat of Brazil's Paulo Costa to set up the re-match.
THE BELT REMAINS IN SOUTH AFRICA ????????????@DricusDuPlessis defeats Sean Strickland at #UFC312 by unanimous decision to become, once again, the middleweight champion of the world! pic.twitter.com/ZdZn75eR7d
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2025
(Additional reporting: AFP)
