New Zealand-based Nigerian Adesanya, Israel Adesanya has retained his UFC middleweight title against former champion Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision in Houston.
It would be recalled that Adesanya previously knocked out Whittaker in the second round at UFC 243 in October 2019 to capture the undisputed middleweight title in Melbourne.
But in the recent rematch at UFC 271 in Texas, Whittaker fought to a much more conservative gameplan, which kept him in the contest all the way to the judges’ scorecards.
After their tightly-contested title bout at the Toyota Center went the distance, all three judges were in agreement on the victor and Adesanya was awarded the unanimous decision with scores of 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.
During his post-fight interview, the 32-year-old said “I knew he was going to bring everything, because last time I took everything away from him”.
“So, he had nothing to lose. And like I said, I’m the champ. Come get it.”
The elated champion went on to state his intention to return to action in June against middleweight contender Jared Cannonier, who scored an impressive win of his own in Houston.
“I know June doesn’t have a pay-per-view yet, but like I said, I’m the new dog in the yard, I’m the big dog in the yard now. And I know the other dog, Jared Cannonier, did some work tonight.”
On his part, Whittaker, was left disappointed after thinking he’d done enough to recapture the title.
He said “I know I started off rocky in that first round, but I feel like I took every round after that. “It is what it is, but you know what they say about leaving it to the judges.
“I’m happy that I fought my heart out and left it here. But, I’m gutted. I thought I did enough. I thought I took that.”
Reacting to Adesanya’s victory, Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, hailed him for retaining the Unified Fighting Championship middleweight category in a three sets win.
Dabiri-Erewa congratulated Adesanya’ in a statement signed by Mr Gabriel Odu, Media Public Relations and Protocol Officer of the commission in Abuja.
She described Adesanya’s performance as a true reflection of the resilience, passion, dedication, and commitment of Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora.
She urged him to sustain the momentum and win more laurels for Nigeria.
It is important to note that the recent victory was Adesanya’s Fourth Title Defence after defeats against Yoel Romero, Paolo Costa, and Marvin Vettori, respectively.
