Watch UFC 274 live. Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight belt with a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) victory over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in Houston on Saturday.
Summary
Watch UFC 274 live.
Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight belt with a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) victory over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in Houston on Saturday. The victory is Adesanya’s (22-1) fourth title defense and his 11-fight UFC winning streak is the second-longest welterweight streak in division history behind Anderson Silva’s 13-fight streak.
Adesanya, who used height and leverage, found success on the skids all night and constantly attacked Whittaker’s leading leg. Whittaker had a few moments – landing several takedown attempts – but none of them did any significant damage to the owner in a close fight.
Betting Odds (by BetMGM)
Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision. Ty Tuivasa defeated Derek Lewis by second round KO. Kay O’Neill defeated Roxanne Modafferi by split decision Keeler Phillips defeated Marcelo Rojo by third round submission Carlos Ulberg defeated Fabio Cherante by unanimous decision Ronnie Lawrence defeated Leomana Martinez by unanimous decision Jacob Malcon defeated AJ Dobson by unanimous decision Douglas Silva de Andradez round entry Jeremiah Wells defeated Mike Mattan by first round entry Maxim Grishin defeated William Knight by unanimous decision.
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(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
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Not everyone agrees with the decision.
Official scorecards for the main event
Adesanya holds the UFC middleweight belt
Round 5: Whittaker gets his moments but it’s too little too late.
Whittaker tries a single leg takedown but fails. Izzy eye poke stops the action momentarily. Whitaker shoots and gets the takedown. Adesanya quickly got up with the house. A left hook for Whittaker lands from the break.
Round 4: Whittaker wants to finish
Adesanya fell to the body energy. Whittaker ducks a punch attempt and takes Adesaya down. Whittaker climbs on Adesanya’s back trying to take the neck. Adesanya leaves quickly. Whittaker’s cross landed high, but didn’t seem to do much damage. A nice straight by Whittar, blocks Adesanya’s header.
Round 3: Adesanya is still in control, although Whittaker is having moments.
Kick to the body by Adesanya. Whittaker and Adesanya both exchange live shots before dropping back. Adesanya goes for a free kick but Whittaker saves the effort. Adesanya gets up but Whittaker is on his back. Adesanya was freed. Adesanya lands a heavy leg kick.
Round 2: Close round go both ways
Whittaker came out a bit aggressive, trying to close the distance. 1:35 Nice jab into the 2nd but the punches look a little wild. He lands a straight left and catches Adesanya rolling forward and gets the takedown attempt. Adesanya rose quickly.
Whittaker may have taken that close round. Adesanya was still in control but inflicted more significant damage there. This round could go either way.
Adesanya won the 1st round
Adesanya was constantly attacking Whittar’s leading leg. A straight left dropped Whittarn but popped back up. Adesanya very comfortable and very calm there. Full control in 1.
Main event time
This fight will come down to whether Whittar can land the takedown. He won’t win on his feet against Adesanya, the best striker in all of the sport.
Tuivasa with a 2nd-round finish
Ty Tuivasa defeated Derrick Lewis in the second round. An elbow on the cage immediately sent Lewis to the mat after a back-and-forth swing.
Derrick Lewis won the 1st round
With 2 minutes left in the 1st round, Luis Tuivasa tackles him to the mat. As Tuivasa tries to get up the side of the house, Lewis throws several haymakers. Lewis made another takedown attempt but didn’t land much with 45 seconds left in the first. He easily dominated the opening round.
Cannonier is looking for a middleweight title shot next
Cannonier finished 2nd in a violent finish
Cannonier landed a hard elbow in the 2nd half that stunned Brunson. He stumbled around the house before hitting the carpet. Cannonier landed hard elbows from Brunson before the referee stepped in for an early finish.
Brunson drops Cannonier with a right hook
He almost got the submission but timed out after sending Cannonier to the mat with a right hook in the final minute of round one. Brunson with a fight across Cannonier.
A critical situation for Derek Brunson
Renato Moicano won by submission
Moicano followed up with a left hook, followed by a right hook that sent Hernandez on the floor. Moicano took the fight to the mat, sinking in an underhook and submitting Hernandez with a back naked choke in the 2nd round.
Moicano is 3-1 in his last four games. He asked for a bonus for his performance.
Bobby Green defeated Nasrat Haqparast by unanimous decision
Bobby Green put on a dominant performance over Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 271 with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Green won a significant 163 strokes on the night. Green landed jab after jab on Hakparast, bloodied his face early and never took his foot off the pedal.
It was Green’s second win of the series.
