Israel Adesanya defeats Whittaker to retain UFC middleweight title

 

Israel Adesanya, Nigerian-New Zealander mixed martial artist, has retained his middleweight title after defeating Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision on Sunday.

 

All three judges scored the rematch 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 in favour of Adesanya at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

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The first round saw the Aussie shoot a naked takedown but the ‘Last Stylebender’ was composed and confident enough to repel it with ease. Before the round ended, Adesanya had landed calf kicks and found a home for his right hooks, visibly rattling Whittaker.

 

With stance switching and kicks coming from Adesanya, Whittaker had no chance to consistently generate offence in the second round.

 

The 32-year-old champion hurt his right hand in the third round, giving Whittaker the chance to land a left hook.

 

Whittaker, 31, landed a strong hook to start the fourth round but Adesanya was back to the kicking game early in the round.

 

Adesanya has successfully defended his title three times, recording only the first loss of his career in 2021 when he moved up to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title.

 

He had defeated Whittaker via a second round TKO at UFC 243 on October 6, 2019.