Israel Adesanya landing a knee on Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 (Credits: MMA Fighting)
Robert Whittaker describes the puzzling knockdown in round 1 against Israel Adesanya at UFC 271
The MMA community was torn between the final outcome of the main event at UFC 271, in which a few scored the fight differently and had Robert Whittaker winning the bout. However, an early knockdown in round 1 is what perplexed the fans given the fact that it wasn’t a heavy punch.
One of the most decisive moments in the fight came in the very first round when Adesanya used his free-flowing movements to cut Whittaker onto the fence and landed a mystery punch that dropped him close to the end of that round.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Whittaker said, “Other fighters will know. It’s like one of those ones that just puts you on your bum but you’re still there the whole time. So yeah, it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t too bad. But, it’s certainly dangerous because, you know, he’s a great fighter. You don’t want to be on your bum when you fighting someone like that.”
That moment, in particular, had Whittaker fans worried for it was remindful of the first time the pair fought at UFC 243 back in 2019.
Robert Whittaker has set his sights on ‘The Italian Nightmare’ for a potential return this summer. Having fought the whos’ who of the middleweight division, not much makes sense for ‘The Reaper’ at this stage in his career.
Vettori, who is currently ranked no.3 has attempted to debunk ‘The Last Stylebender’ puzzle twice but has agonizingly failed on both occasions, just like Whittaker.
Speaking with Submission Radio on this potential match-up he said, “I’ll fight someone in the division. I don’t know how many people are left. Probably [Marvin Vettori]. Yeah, he would have to be the highest-ranked, next up, I believe. I’m on a little break now and then I’ll get back in the gym, probably look for, like, maybe a July-August sort of return. I think that’ll be good. Because then I can get a third one in at the end of the year. So, I think that’s good timing for me.”
As for both contenders, they need to rack up few impressive wins before they get a third shot at Izzy.
More MMA news
Follow our dedicated MMA page for instant MMA news and updates
