Mueez Ajao
– Israel Adesanya was the story all week. His new, lucrative contract with the UFC. His teammates from City Kickboxing fighting on the same card. His current and future stardom.
– It felt like no one here was talking about Robert Whittaker, the challenger and former champ who talks no trash and draws absolutely no undue attention to himself. It was almost like it was a foregone conclusion that Adesanya would walk away with his UFC middleweight title without much fuss.
– That was very much not the case, though. Adesanya did defeat Whittaker via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event of UFC 271 on Saturday night at Toyota Center.
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– Adesanya did indeed leave the Octagon with his middleweight belt, using his length and reach to counter Whittaker’s boxing. Adesanya’s biggest success came with his kicks to Whittaker’s left leg, which was showing bruising and swelling early in the bout.
