Israel Adesanya defends his title in rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271

Israel Adesanya defends his title in rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271

Israel Adesanya retains middleweight title

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, February 12, 2022, for UFC 271, going down live at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Headlining the event is a middleweight championship rematch between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and No. 1 ranked former champion Robert Whittaker.

Since their first meeting, the champion has gone 3-1, his only defeat coming at 205 lbs whilst challenging for that belt, while the former champion has gone 3-0 since his defeat to Adesanya.

In fact, Whittaker is 11-1 at 185 lbs in the UFC, the only defeat coming to the champion. He was also coming off the longest layoff of his career going into that first encounter.

Continue reading to see how this epic middleweight championship clash went down:

Official Result: Israel Adesanya def. Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

The champion takes the center of the octagon and begins to pick Whittaker apart, dropping him with a beautiful cross, as well as damaging his leg via leg kicks.

The second round was much better for the challenger, he secured a momentary takedown, and even landed some of his own shots, though it’d appear the champion is still in control.

Whittaker is having a tough time finding his range on the feet, as most do against Adesanya. He’s lunging in with punches, not as much as in their first encounter, but he’s trying to create opportunities for himself.

Adesanya is absolutely on point tonight though, and Whittaker just doesn’t seem to have an answer aside from his occasional takedowns.

Since unifying the belt against Whittaker in their first fight, Adesanya has now defended his belt four times.

It appears No. 3 ranked Jared Cannonier, who just viciously KO’d Derek Brunson last night as well, is next in line to challenge the Nigerian for his prestigious championship, and that couldn’t be a more exciting match up.

author avatar
Brady Ordway
I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!