It was more competitive the second time around but the UFC 271 results, in the end, were the same as before in the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
New Zealand’s Adesanya earned a second victory over Whittaker on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 271 in a tightly contested affair. The judges’ scores at Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. went 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for a unanimous decision in favor of Adesanya.
Israel Adesanya outlasts Robert Whittaker to retain middleweight title at UFC 271
They first met at UFC 243 in Melbourne, where “The Last Stylebender” took the middleweight title by defeating Whittaker via second-round knockout in October 2019. Adesanya (22-1) steamrolled Sydney’s Whittaker (23-6) in that first meeting and in the opening round Saturday night, it appeared another easy night’s work was coming, as Adesanya scored a knockdown and didn’t allow Whittaker to get any offense going.
Whittaker, however, found success with his grappling game, scoring several takedowns and nearly securing a choke in the fourth round. But he could never quite get in position to finish, and Adesanya’s incessant kicks to Whittaker’s lead leg took a toll as the fight went on, and the champ hung on to record his fourth successful title defense.
“I knew he was going to bring everything because he has nothing to lose,” Adesanya said. “I’m the champ, if you want it come get it.”
Tai Tuivasa stuns Derrick Lewis with face-plant KO
The evening’s co-main event bout was a thrilling heavyweight slugfest that delivered on its promise of fireworks.
Australia’s Tai Tuivasa (15-3) took everything the UFC’s all-time knockout king Derrick Lewis (26-9) could dish out and rallied to win via a stunning knockout of his own in the second round.
The opening round saw both land heavy shots, and in a bit of foreshadowing, Tuivasa managed to keep his wits while eating big Lewis hammers and fired back several of his own.
In the second, Lewis put Tuivasa on wobbly legs, but before Houston’s own could add to his UFC record 13 KOs, Tuivasa regained his composure and started landing. He landed a perfect elbow in the clinch to the jaw that sent Lewis crashing face-first to the mat. Ending it at 1:40.
“That’s the king of knockouts, much respect to Derrick Lewis,” said Tuivasa, who has five straight wins, all via knockout. “But like I said, I’m not coming, I’m taking over.”
UFC 271 performance bonus winners
Fight of the Night: Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Sergey Morozov
Performance of the Night: Jared Cannonier
Performance of the Night: Tai Tuivasa
UFC 271 results
Main Card
Israel Adesanya def. Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision – middleweight title fight
Tai Tuivasa def. Derrick Lewis by KO, round 2 (Watch Finish)
Jared Cannonier def. Derek Brunson by TKO, round 2 (Watch Finish)
Renato Moicano def. Alexander Hernandez by submission, round 2 (Watch Highlight)
Bobby Green def. Nasrat Haqparast by unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
Andre Arlovski def. Jared Vanderaa by split-decision
Casey O’Neil def. Roxanne Modafferi by split-decision (Watch Modafferi Retire)
Kyler Phillips def. Marcelo Rojo by submission, round 3 (Watch Finish)
Carlos UIberg def. Fabio Cherant by unanimous decision
Ronnie Lawrence def. Mana Martinez by unanimos decision
Jacob Malkoun def. AJ Dobson by unanimous decision
Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Sergey Morozov by submission, round 2 (Watch Finish)
Jeremiah Wells def. Mike Mathetha by submission, round 1 (Watch Finish)
Maxim Grishin def. William Knight by unanimous decision
–Field Level Media
