It was more competitive the second time around, but the result was the same.
New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya on Saturday night earned a second victory over Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271 in a tightly contested affair.
The judges’ scores at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, went 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for a unanimous decision in favor of Adesanya.
Photo: AFP
They first met at UFC 243 in Melbourne, where Adesanya took the middleweight title by defeating Whittaker via a second-round knockout in October 2019.
Adesanya (22-1) steamrolled Sydney’s Whittaker (23-6) in that first meeting and in the opening round on Saturday night, it appeared another easy night’s work was coming, as Adesanya scored a knockdown and did not allow Whittaker to get any offense going.
Whittaker 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.
As the fight went on, Adesanya’s incessant kicks to Whittaker’s head took a toll, 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.”
The evening’s cofeature 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 the two 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 knockouts, Tuivasa regained his composure and started landing. He landed a perfect standing elbow 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 knockouts. “But like I said, I’m not coming, I’m taking over.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS