When UFC 271 goes down this weekend in Houston, its main event will very much be a fight about legacy.
While Robert Whittaker has told anyone willing to listen that he was never chasing the title he lost to Israel Adesanya back in 2019, fighters are, by the nature of the sport, defined by their achievements — and failures. In that sense, Whittaker’s is a story very much unfinished: his first run to the title was exemplary, but he never seemed comfortable with the pressure of actually being a UFC champion.
When he lost the belt to Adesanya without ever technically having defended it — his UFC 225 rematch with Yoel Romero was a non-title affair after Romero missed weight — there was plenty of talk about Whittaker wilting in the spotlight. Fairly or unfairly, Whittaker’s mental fortitude was questioned, and found wanting.
That, of course, is in stark contrast to “The Last Stylebender” himself. Adesanya entered the UFC seemingly custom-built for stardom, with an oversized personality, quick wit, and sharp tongue. If his claims sounded bombastic at first listen, he soon began backing them up, and here we are nearly five years to the day Adesanya made his kickboxing debut: he recently signed one of the most lucrative contracts in UFC history, as he looks to make the fourth defense of his middleweight title.
Is Whittaker truly in a better place than he was during their first meeting in 2019? Has he evolved as a fighter, enough for the rematch to look significantly different? More so than Adesanya, who has appeared all but complete in nearly every fight outside of his failed light heavyweight title bid opposite Jan Blachowicz, where he gave up an insurmountable size differential?
Those are the questions we’re waiting to see answered this Saturday at UFC 271. And just a few days prior, at the pre-fight press conference on Thursday, perhaps we’ll get some inkling of what’s to come.
Tune in for the UFC 271 pre-fight press conference live stream above. That affair kicks off at 6:30PM ET.
