Matchmaker Monday following UFC 271
UFC 271 marked the second pay per view event of 2022 and it featured one of the biggest stars in all of mixed martial arts in the main event.
Israel Adesanya was able to once again beat the man he took the title from as he did just enough to beat Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision.
Adesanya clearly won the opening round and after four close remaining rounds, he found himself once again as the king of the middleweights. Meanwhile, Whittaker will have to regroup after executing his game plan and still coming up short.
Now that the event is over, let’s find out what’s next for the two men who fought in the main event of UFC 271.
Israel Adesanya
Next: Jared Cannonier
Adesanya is a force at 185 pounds and is primed for an Anderson Silva type run. Whittaker was able to take Adesanya down several times, which was supposed to be the way to beat Adesanya. Only difference between Whittaker and Jan Blachowicz, who is the only man to beat Adesanya in MMA, was that Blachowicz kept Adesanya down and Whittaker did not.
After another title defense, its hard to see Adesanya losing anytime soon at middleweight. However it is easy to pick his next opponent as it’ll be another man who fought on the main card of UFC 271 in Cannonier.
Cannonier has only lost one fight since moving down to middleweight and that was to Whittaker and after his impressive win over Derek Brunson on Saturday, Brunson pointed out UFC president Dana White and called for a title fight.
At the UFC 271 post-fight press conference, White said Cannonier is absolutely next. Doesn’t get any easier than that.
Robert Whittaker
Next: Marvin Vettori
Whittaker earned his way back to the title by beating three top contenders in a row. Now he’s going to have to go on another winning streak to get back into the title conversation unless someone dethrones Adesanya.
Up next, a matchup with Vettori makes sense. Both have lost to Adesanya twice now and are stuck in the boat. They’re also ranked at the top of the division. The winner of that fight may have be able to use the winner for a reason to fight Adesanya a third time if these two keep beating all the contenders thrown at them.
