Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision to retain his UFC middleweight championship in their rematch Saturday night in the main event of UFC 271 at Toyota Center.
The judges scored the bout 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 for Adesanya.
Adesanya (22-1), 32, made the fourth defense of his title, which he won by beating Whittaker via second-round knockout at UFC 243 in October 2019. He remains undefeated in his career at middleweight, with his only loss coming at light heavyweight in a UFC title fight against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 last March.
Whittaker made key adjustments to make it a competitive rematch, but Adesanya was effective and efficient with his strikes, especially with his leg kicks.
He controlled the opening round, dropping Whittaker with a straight left hand and connecting often with hard kicks to the leg and body.
Whittaker tried to take the fight to the ground in Round 2, changing levels after an exchange and scoring a takedown, but Adesanya was quickly able to bring the fight back to the feet, which became a theme of the fight. Though it was a better round for Whittaker, Adesanya stayed patient and continued to find a home for his kicks and counter-punches.
Whittaker scored another takedown in the following round, but Adesanya again was able to get back to his feet immediately. Adesanya went back on the attack with his kicks, doing clear damage to Whittaker’s lead leg.
Whittaker had some success with his jab in Round 4 and briefly threatened when he took Adesanya to the mat and was able to take his back, but Adesanya again was able to deftly pull himself away and return the fight to stand-up.
It was more of the same in the final round, with Adesanya continuing to stalk Whittaker, peppering him with leg kicks. Whittaker scored another takedown but again was unable to do any damage before Adesanya got back to his feet. Whittaker spent much of the final minute wrestling Adesanya against the cage, landing a few knees before the fight…
Source : espn
