Tomorrow night in the headliner of UFC 271, we will see a rematch for the middleweight title that is two and a half years in the making. The middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (21-1) will be defending his championship against the former champion Robert Whittaker (23-5).
Whittaker has waited patiently and he’s finally getting his second crack at Adesanya for UFC gold. Back in 2019, Whittaker lost his title to Adesanya when he was knocked out by him in the second round. After that loss, Whittaker went back to the drawing board.
He’s come back better than ever and he’s rattled off three straight wins. Not only has he won three straight, but two of the three men were guys that Adesanya was interested in defending the middleweight title against. Those two men were Darren Till and Jared Cannonier.
Adesanya last fought at UFC 263 when he defeated Marvin Vettori. That was a bounce back win after his loss to Jan Blachowicz where Adesanya failed in his attempt to become a two-division champion. That said, Adesanya has remained perfect at 185 and he’s looking to continue that at UFC 271.
UFC 271 Prediction
Robert Whittaker said something yesterday at the UFC 271 press conference that is extremely true. Whittaker said that there’s him and Adesanya and then there’s a big gap to the rest of the division. If I’m being honest, that’s exactly the case.
These two men are so good and they are both better than everyone else. If Adesanya wasn’t around, Whittaker would still be the UFC middleweight champion. However, Stylebender is still around and he’s got a good style that will give Whittaker problems.
In this fight, I’m expecting Whittaker to try and mix in his wrestling. However, I don’t think his wrestling is good enough to take Adesanya down. That said, the threat of takedowns could mix in well with his striking attacks and it could throw off Adesanya.
I’m not expecting a one-sided fight at UFC 271. I think both men are going to have their moment and I think the fight goes the distance. I also believe the fight is going to be razor close. That said, I think the belt stays where it’s at tomorrow.
The timing and precision of Adesanya’s attacks are going to score him enough points to get the win. Expect a high-level technical chess match tomorrow night and expect Israel Adesanya to leave the cage with the UFC middleweight championship.
Prediction: Israel Adesanya by Unanimous Decision