It wasn’t always pretty but Dricus du Plessis got the job done once again.

As much as the reigning middleweight champion wanted a finish, du Plessis heads home to South Africa with the title around his waist and a lopsided decision on his record after beating Sean Strickland in the UFC 312 main event. While the rematch stayed close throughout many moments, du Plessis’ ability to connect with the bigger, more impactful strikes helped him edge out round after round.

In the fourth round, du Plessis did the most damage after he demolished Strickland’s nose with a punch that saw blood just go pouring down the challenger’s face. That was all du Plessis needed to ultimately secure the win with the judges scoring the fight 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 as the champion retains his title following another five-round battle.

“I told you guys, when I come in here I’m trying to knock this man out,” du Plessis shouted to the crowd. “To knock him out is nearly impossible. I gave it my all. I’m sorry I couldn’t get him out of here. Sean is an absolute animal and he’s deserving of all the hype.”

In many ways the rematch played out in similar fashion as the first fight with Strickland sticking behind his jab and du Plessis coming back at him with power punches. Perhaps the biggest difference was Strickland didn’t seem to have nearly as much output and that allowed du Plessis to connect with the biggest strikes throughout the first few rounds.

Some close exchanges saw du Plessis mix up his attacks with several stinging leg kicks while also throwing a spinning back fist or even a spinning back elbow to keep Strickland guessing. While he wasn’t totally pulling away on the scorecards, du Plessis was connecting with the more impressive strikes and he was constantly dealing with Strickland’s stifling defense.

The momentum finally changed in the fourth round when du Plessis uncorked a huge right hand that absolutely demolished Strickland’s nose as blood just began pouring down his face.

Strickland was really wearing the damage on his face with du Plessis in hot pursuit trying to follow up and go for the finish. Another right hand buzzed Strickland as du Plessis’ confidence really started to surge as he began to take over but he admitted afterwards that smelling blood in the water almost backfired on him.

“I’m probably going to get tased for that one by my coach,” du Plessis said. “Once I saw him grabbing him at his nose, it’s like getting somebody rocked. I got a bit overexcited and immediately went ‘the man is running and he’s running hard.’ Don’t outpunch yourself. Came back, stayed calm.

“Took me about 30 seconds or a minute to get everything back to composure. I don’t want to make a habit of these decisions. But against a competitor like that, it means the absolute world.”

As the fight moved into the final round, Strickland’s coaches were not mincing words, telling him that he needed to get the finish or he was going to leave Australia without the title.

Unfortunately, Strickland didn’t really change his attacks as he stuck to the same type of offense with a lead left jab and an occasional straight right hand behind it. There was no backing down from du Plessis as he kept chopping away at Strickland with kicks to the legs and body before going back up top to the head with his boxing combinations.

The Australian crowd was beginning to grow a little restless but du Plessis was finding his spots without allowing Strickland any chance to pull off the miraculous comeback. With a minute remaining, du Plessis uncorked a beautiful head kick that tagged Strickland as the champion secured the win and his second consecutive title defense.

Perhaps more importantly, du Plessis vanquished Strickland once and for all with a pair of wins over the scrappy challenger, which all but ends the rivalry between them. When it was all over, Strickland made no excuses and paid homage to du Plessis on a job well done.

“When that f*cker broke my nose, I was like oh that doesn’t f*cking feel right,” Strickland said. “Popped it back in place. I kept fighting. The Dutchman is a bad motherf*cker. He kicked my ass fair and square. Props to him.”

The win moves du Plessis to 23-2 in his career with a perfect 9-0 resume in the UFC.

Following his latest win, du Plessis pointed right at UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira as if he was looking for a challenge, although he never called him out by name. More than anything it appears du Plessis wants his chance to climb up those mythical pound-for-pound rankings after dispatching Strickland and retaining his title once again.