Dricus Du Plessis picked up the biggest win of his career while making quite a statement against Darren Till at UFC 282.
A strong start that saw a near finish from Du Plessis eventually led to a back-and-forth battle in the third round before he finally landed a well-timed takedown to land directly in the mount. From there, Till was forced to roll over to avoid damage and Du Plessis seized the opening to apply a neck crank/rear naked choke that earned him the tap just a split second later.
The official stoppage came at 2:43 in the third round as Du Plessis got the job done.
“The gas tank can never be empty,” Du Plessis said after a grueling battle. “It can go a little bit low but it never goes empty. Third round, it comes down to that dog and who’s toughest. Bring on that last round, we are always going to win it.
“I just beat freaking Darren Till, how awesome is that? Hello top 10!”
With plans to display more than just his striking, Du Plessis actually snatched an early takedown to bring Till down to the canvas. As Till was trying to play defense and work his way back to the feet, Du Plessis was just blasting away with punches.
Another takedown followed with Du Plessis getting the back to begin working for a rear-naked choke while also hammering with punches. Despite the dominant position, Till was eventually able to slip free as he looked for a guillotine choke and then a couple of slick combinations on the feet as he sought to even the odds after a lopsided start to the fight.
As dominant as he was throughout the first round, Du Plessis looked like he was gasping for air, which allowed Till to begin controlling the pace on the feet. Till popped the South African fighter with a couple of straight punches that snapped Du Plessis’ head back and the momentum in the fight really began to shift.
Till was measured as he rattled off a number of left-right combinations that kept Du Plessis on the end of his punches.
With five minutes remaining, Du Plessis was showing more urgency as he began sticking a jab in Till’s face, which backed off the Liverpool native. That led to the takedown and Du Plessis moving into the mount before applying the submission that helped him secure the victory.
On his way out of the cage, UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik noted that Till said he believed he tore his ACL during the fight, which would be a terrible injury for the one-time UFC title challenger. Typical recovery time for an ACL injury in the knee is typically one year or longer.
As for Du Plessis, he continues his winning ways with another impressive showing as he look to climb up the ladder in the UFC’s middleweight division.