A rematch over two years in the making topped UFC 271, as Israel Adesanya looked to defend his middleweight title against the man from whom he won the belt, Robert Whittaker.
That upped the stakes of an already high-stakes bout: Adesanya was already on his second lap of the weight class, having fought in a rematch against Marvin Vettori last time out. Depending on how the UFC 271 card went, another, with Derek Brunson, could be next.
Whittaker, meanwhile, had looked unstoppable since he first met “The Last Stylebender” — and had gone back to looking unstoppable ever since. Had he made the necessary adjustments since the pair’s first meeting in 2019? That was the question waiting to be answered as “The Reaper” attempted to reclaim his throne.
Also on the UFC 271 card, another hometown fight for popular heavyweight Derrick Lewis. After coming up short against Ciryl Gane for interim gold last year, Lewis had bounced back with a win over Chris Daukaus in December. But that had come in Vegas; at home in Houston, it was Tai Tuivasa waiting for him, in a fight that was about as fan-friendly as they come.
Following the event, tune in for the UFC 271 post-fight press conference, available in the embed above.
