Israel Adesanya kicks Robert Whittaker in their middleweight championship fight during UFC 271 in Houston. Photo / Getty Images
Tune in for the action as Israel Adesanya puts his UFC middleweight title on the line against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in Houston.
Here's a few things to know ahead of the bout...
What's the situation?
Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya puts his title on the line once more when he meets Robert Whittaker in the headline bout in Houston. It's a rematch that has been a long time coming, after Adesanya took the undisputed crown from New Zealand-born Whittaker in Melbourne back in 2019.
It's been an interesting couple of years since that meeting. Many felt Whittaker should have gotten an immediate rematch but, instead, both fighters have had three bouts in the division. While Adesanya has been looking for new challengers to his throne, after beating Yoel Romero and derailing the hype of Paulo Costa, he had to take a rematch in the form of Italian Marvin Vettori. As he did in their first meeting, Adesanya claimed a decision win.
Part of the reason Adesanya hasn't been able to find new challengers is thanks to Whittaker. After Adesanya mentioned he would like to fight Brit Darren Till; Till was beaten by Whittaker. Adesanya said he would like to fight American Jared Cannonier, then Cannonier was beaten by Whittaker. Whittaker also beat Kelvin Gastelum in his most recent fight, shutting out the former title contender 50-45 on all three scorecards.
As Whittaker said at a press conference on Friday: "You can see the level difference between us and the rest of the division."
Adesanya and Whittaker have shown they are far and away the best two middleweights in the promotion, and they will finally get to meet again.
What happened the first time around?
Adesanya put paid to Whittaker. While Whittaker said at the time it was the best he had felt going into a fight, it definitely wasn't his best performance. His constant want to rush forward and try to put hands on the elusive Adesanya ultimately was his undoing, first getting dropped by a counter attack late in the first round, before being finished in almost the exact same sequence midway through the second round.
Whittaker has since admitted the mental warfare leading into the fight, as well as the pressure of the moment and his ego all got the better of him and he didn't perform as he knows he can – and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone to disagree with him. This time around, at least in the build up to the fight, Whittaker has come into fight week in a better mindset and looks ready to show the reigning champion his best on Sunday.
But as Whittaker has improved, so has Adesanya, and that makes for an intriguing prospect in the octagon.
New Zealand's newest UFC athlete looked comfortable in his debut win.