UFC 271 live results and analysis: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2

HOUSTON — Israel Adesanya wore a gold chain around his neck Thursday at the UFC 271 news conference. Hanging from the chain was a medallion with a digital screen showing an NFT video of Adesanya’s knockout of Robert Whittaker on a loop. A day earlier, Adesanya admitted he changed his hair to a higher fade, like the cut he had for that UFC 243 fight with Whittaker.

Adesanya is clearly hoping for a repeat performance Saturday against Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271 at the Toyota Center. Adesanya will defend his UFC middleweight title against the man he beat for the belt in October 2019. It’s a battle of two of the best middleweights in the world — and two of the top fighters in the world. ESPN ranks Adesanya No. 2, and Whittaker ranked No. 9 in its MMA pound-for-pound rankings. At middleweight, Adesanya is No. 1 and Whittaker is No. 2.

Adesanya (21-1) stopped Whittaker via second-round knockout at UFC 243 nearly three years ago. The Nigerian-born New Zealander is undefeated at middleweight but dropped a unanimous decision to then-light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 last March. Adesanya, 32, is looking for his fourth successful middleweight title defense.

Whittaker (23-5) has won three straight since dropping the title to Adesanya, knocking off contenders Darren Till, Kelvin Gastelum and Jared Cannonier. The New Zealand-born Australian has won 12 of his past 13 fights overall. Whittaker, 31, held either the interim or undisputed UFC middleweight titles from 2017 to 2019. “The Reaper,” a former Ultimate Fighter winner, was the UFC’s first-ever Australian champion.

In the co-main event, Derrick Lewis takes on Tai Tuivasa in what should be an action heavyweight fight. Lewis (26-8, 1 NC), who calls Houston his adopted hometown, has won five of his past six and will try to redeem himself after a loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC 265 last August in Houston. Tuivasa (13-3), known for drinking beer out of a shoe after victories, has won four in a row, all by KO/TKO.

Also on the card, Cannonier will take on Derek Brunson in what could be a middleweight title eliminator, Bobby Green and Nasrat Haqparast meet in a lightweight bout and women’s MMA pioneer Roxanne Modafferi makes her final walk to the Octagon against the up-and-coming Casey O’Neill at flyweight.

Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap every fight or watch the card on ESPN+ PPV.

Fight in progress: Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells (9-2-1, 1-0 UFC, -230) vs. Mike Mathetha (3-0, 0-0 UFC, +190)

Results:

Heavyweight: Maxim Grishin (32-9-2, 2-2 UFC) def. William Knight (11-3, 3-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

Recap to come.

Still to come:

Middleweight championship: Israel Adesanya (c) (21-1,10-1 UFC, -280) vs. Robert Whittaker (24-5, 14-3 UFC, +230)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis (26-8 1 NC, 17-6 UFC, -190) vs. Tai Tuivasa (14-3, 7-3 UFC, +160)
Middleweight: Jared Cannonier (14-5, 7-5 UFC, -160) vs. Derek Brunson (23-7, 14-5 UFC, +135)
Lightweight: Alexander Hernandez (13-4, 5-3 UFC, +145) vs. Renato Moicano (15-4-1, 7-4 UFC, -170)
Lightweight: Bobby Green (28-12-1, 9-7-1 UFC, -150) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (13-4, 5-3 UFC, +125)
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (32-20 2NC, 21-14 1 NC UFC, -150) vs. Jared Vanderaa (12-6, 1-2 UFC, +125)
Women’s flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi (25-20, 4-8 UFC, +310) vs. Casey O’Neill (8-0, 3-0 UFC, -400)
Men’s bantamweight: Kyler Phillips (9-2, 3-1 UFC, -420) vs. Marcelo Rojo (16-8, 0-1 UFC, +330)
Light heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg (5-1, 0-1 UFC, -260) vs. Fabio Cherant (7-3, 0-2 UFC, +210)
Men’s bantamweight: Mana Martinez (9-2, 1-0 UFC, +240) vs. Ronnie Lawrence (7-1, 1-0 UFC, -300)
Middleweight: AJ Dobson (6-0, 0-0 UFC, -110) vs. Jacob Malkoun (5-1, 1-1 UFC, -110)
Men’s bantamweight: Douglas Silva de Andrade (27-4, 5-4 UFC, +180) vs. Sergey Morozov (17-4, 1-1 UFC, -220)

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