Dricus Du Plessis broke Sean Strickland’s nose as he defended his UFC middleweight title for the third time.
The victory marked du Plessis’ second over Strickland, who dropped the middleweight belt to the South African last January.
Both men traded heavy leather at the beginning of the bout and du Plessis opened the American up with a brutal right hand in the fourth round.
Replays showed du Plessis’ punch connected directly with the nose of Strickland, breaking it instantly.
Blood poured out of Strickland’s nose in the final two rounds and he never really recovered from the devastating blow.
En route to his victory, du Plessis also broke Michael Bisping’s record for the most significant strikes in UFC middleweight history.
The judges scored the contest 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 as du Plessis claimed the unanimous decision victory.
“I told you guys when I come in here I’m trying to knock this guy out,” du Plessis told UFC commentator Daniel Cormier after the bout.
Thousands of MMA fans reacted to Strickland’s brutal broken nose.
One took to X and said: “That nose is busted bad…Good fight by the champ.”
While another said: “That was insane.”
Du Plessis is now very likely to defend his UFC middleweight title next against the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev is unbeaten in 14 professional MMA fights and has won eight straight UFC bout.
His last victory came against Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last October, when he shattered his fellow middleweight’s jaw to pieces with a rear naked choke.
Both men looked extremely composed at the beginning of round one as du Plessis tested the waters with a variety of leg kicks.
Strickland tried to find the body, while also utilising the same left jab that did so much damage when the pair first danced in the octagon last January.
“If I’m judging this round, I’m probably giving this to du Plessis,” Cormier said at the conclusion of round one, and that theme largely remained the same throughout the bout.
Strickland’s corner asked him ‘to believe in your right hand’, with more activity thrown into the mix as both men locked horns in the second round.
Although it turned out to be a more competitive round two, with several traded blows, it still felt as if Strickland needed to up his output.
And as we entered round three, Du Plessis was definitely leading the judges’ scorecards, but it remained a nip and tuck affair.
Those cards wouldn’t have changed much throughout the next five minutes, as the champion caught Strickland with a brutal elbow towards the end of the round.
However, Strickland started to land a few damaging strikes on his opponent, which prompted the champion to throw a takedown just as the bell sounded.
Strickland would’ve been hopeful to utilise his incredible gas tank in the championship rounds, until du Plessis clocked him with a right hand that shattered his nose into pieces.
The American didn’t seem to realise what had happened until he felt his nose and blood began pouring out.
At this stage, having completed eight rounds of their rivalry, Strickland needed a miracle to reclaim the UFC middleweight title.
“That’s as bad a broken nose as I’ve seen in a long time,” UFC commentator Jon Anik said when the realisation of the damage kicked in.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that much blood coming out of Strickland,” Cormier added.
Going into the final round Strickland said he had ‘reset’ his nose, but confirmed to his coaches that it was definitely broken.
It was obvious Strickland needed to knock out du Plessis to get the win, but that never came and the latter retained his middleweight belt.
