Adesanya falls to submission defeat in bid for historic third middleweight title at UFC 305

Israel Adesanya has come up short in his bid to become an historic three-time middleweight world champion, falling to a fourth-round submission defeat to champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in Perth.

After superb earlier wins for teammates Kai Kara-France and Dan Hooker, the stage appeared to be perfectly set for 'The Last Stylebender' to make it a clean sweep for the Kiwi City Kickboxing contingent.

Instead, it was 'Stillknocks' who rode his suffocating, high pressure style to wrangle Adesanya to the mat in the penultimate round and cinch in a rear-naked choke to force the tap - the first defeat via submission in his 17-fight UFC tenure.

The two quickly buried their beef after the bout, with Du Plessis professing his respect for the Nigerian-born New Zealander, who will now take his title back to Africa where he'll attempt to defend it in a rematch with Sean Strickland.

After his 11-month layoff - the longest of his career - Adesanya showed flashes of his best on the feet, with some of the inactivity that had plagued him in his past few bouts absent.

But it was a self-confessed "stupid mistake" that eventually opened the door for Du Plessis, who locked in a powerful gable grip to end the contest.

After an early feeling out process, Adesanya swiftly found his range with his right hand. Du Plessis tried to press the issue but Adesanya refused to back peddle, making Du Plessis pay for some sloppy attempts to close the distance.

In the second round, Du Plessis had some success in the clinch, dragging Adesanya to the mat on a couple of occasions and threatening with a rear-naked choke. The South Africans heavy-handed grappling started to wear on Adesanya through the round, landing some effective knees to his opponent's legs, although he managed to limit too much damage with his disciplined defence.

In the third round, Adesanya found some better rhythm and volume with his strikes, although Du Plessis was able to find holes with some shots of his own.

Heading into the championship rounds, it appeared Adesanya was the fresher fighter, until Du Plessis managed to catch him in a scramble, drag him to the canvas and secure the fight-ending choke.

It's the first time in Adesanya's career he's lost two consecutive bouts, with three losses in his past four fights.

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