Dricus du Plessis started strongly against Darren Till tonight at UFC 282 and then had slowed down in the second, before turning up the heat again in the final round to secure a submission victory.
Round One:
Calf kick for Du Plessis to start. Till pressing forward as Du Plessis misses a leg kick. They go into the clinch and Du Plessis lands a knee and then lands a takedown.
Till on one knee looking to stand up against the cage as Du Plessis tees off on him with rapid punches. Till gives the ref the thumbs up, but is continuing to eat punches.
Till stalling in this position, not making much of an effort to stand. There’s a lull in Du Plessis’ activity, but not for long and he starts blasting away again. Till stands but still the punches are coming. A lot of these might not have landed cleanly, but it’s a bad look for Till this early in the fight.
Du Plessis dumps him back down to the mat. More punches connecting and Till isn’t doing much to stop it. Now Du Plessis secures the back and goes for a rear-naked choke.
Till survives that attempt, but now Du Plessis pulls him down onto him and is fishing for the rear-naked choke again.
It doesn’t work out for him and now Till is able to turn into him and get on top. Now it’s Till’s turn to dish out some payback as he looks to land strikes, while Du Plessis tries to scramble to a better position.
Till with more punches, but as the round ends it’s Du Plessis who is able to drive up and get Till back down again.
Round Two:
Leg kick for Till. Now jabs from him to set up the heavy left hand. Du Plessis fires back though.
Another jab for Till. left hook and a tired looking knee to the body from Du Plessis. Till with punches and then Du Plessis presses forward with a flurry of his own, but there’s an eyepoke that forces a very brief stoppage.
Du Plessis steps in and eats a punch. Till with a nice combo. Till with a good knee upstairs and Du Plessis responds by driving into a takedown that he lands.
Till tries to drive back up, but unable to. However, he does manage to at the second attempt.
Step-in jab for Till. Du Plessis with big gasps of air. He misses on a head kick attempt. leg kick for Du Plessis.
leg kick for Du Plessis but eats a big punch from Till at the same time. One-two for Till. Now a front kick to the body. Du Plessis misses on a superman punch.
Leg kick for Till and then a solid left hand behind it. Now an elbow for Till. Flurry without much steam behind it from Du Plessis.
Du Plessis with a tired takedown attempt but still lands it. Till tries to get back up but Du Plessis pushes him back down. Du Plessis in half guard and looking to pass.
Suddenly Du Plessis goes for a leg lock and is rolling with it as the round ends.
Round Three:
Jab for Till. He looks lighter on his feet at this stage. Elbow attempt from Till. He goes for a knee upstairs too that’s blocked.
Front kick to the body from Till. Right hand for Du Plessis. Leg kick for Du Plessis. Till tries to get an uppercut through Du Plessis’ high guard.
Du Plessis targets the body. Left hand from Till. Solid punch from Du Plessis. Till complaining about a low blow and after signalling it several times the ref finally steps in and gives him a quick break to recover.
Front kick to the body from Till as Du Plessis lands a punch. Solid jab for Du Plessis. Now a left hook.
Till into range and Du Plessis takes him down nicely and mounts straight away. Till gives up his back and Du Plessis goes for the rear-naked choke, which forces a quick tap from his opponent at 2.43mins of the final round.
Till had some success in the second round thanks to du Plessis over-exerting himself in search of a finish earlier in the fight. That aside though it was a problematic performance from Till, lacking urgency for much of the opening five minutes despite being in real trouble, while his takedown defense was very poor and with five losses in his last six fights, including three by way of submission, his future in the promotion could now potentially be at risk..
