Du Plessis puts decisive end to Strickland Rivalry
South Africa first UFC champion continues to build on his legacy in his own way.
No one has mistaken Dricus du Plessis’s style for beautiful but regardless it brutally effective. A fighter working at his own rhythm. Heading into the rematch many thought the challenger would need to be more active.
Activity, variety, and creativity would be cornerstones of the champions successful defense. The was 25 minutes but Sean Strickland was never able to get his offense going. Through the first ten minutes the bout felt like a continuation of the first encounter.
Du Plessis working kicks to all three levels, spinning with backfists, elbows and kicks. Punches coming from all angles. Strickland a defensive savvy fighter getting stuck in his transitions, a deep breath between offense and defense giving Du Plessis the opportunity to exit or gain attack catching Strickland by surprise.
An overhand right from Du Plessis broke Steickland’s nose. The former champion would reset his nose while avoiding more damage. The overwhelming onslaught of offense earning a unanimous decision.
The co-main event also saw domination as Weili Zhang retained the UFC Women’s Strawweight championship defeating Tatiana Suarez by unanimous decision.
Suarez got off on the right foot putting Zhang on her back for most of the first round. A position she’d wouldn’t be able to duplicate the rest of the fight. Zhang would shut down countless takedowns attempts over the next four rounds. Zhang ability to close distance was excellent stinging Suarez with right hands on several occasions.
Out scrambling the wrestling expert and getting deep on an arm-triangle put an exclamation point to a performance that could propel Zhang into a fight a second world title.
The card also saw several standout debuts. Heavyweight Tallison Teixeira crushed Justin Tafa with an elbow in the clinch. Aleksandre Topuria the brother of UFC Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria won a convincing decision displaying a skill set that mirrors his brother. Jonathan Micallef battered Kevin Jousset with kick for a decision win. And Quillan Salkilld stuck a right hand in the ear of Anshul Jubli for a first round knockout.
Gabriel Santos also stood out. The Brazilian survived getting drop by a head kick in the first round and trapped Jack Jenkins in a triangle once on the ground. Santos took the second round controlling the grappling. In the third Santos knocked out Jenkins on his feet with a teap kick got him down and finished with a rear naked choke.
Tommy Nolan cut Viacheslav Borshchev with elbows off his back landed heavy up kicks in the third sealing the deal on a section win. China’s Wang Cong & Rongzhu both returned to the win column with clean sweeps of the scorecards.
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