Israel Adesanya started his middleweight title reign with a lethal KO victory over Robert Whittaker on October 5, 2019.
It was only Adesanya’s seventh fight in Dana White’s promotion, one year after his debut and just the beginning of his long reign at championship status.
Adesanya ruthlessly KO’d Whittaker at UFC 243Getty
The Nigerian-born Kiwi went into the fight as the interim champion and stopped Whittaker in the second round of their main event clash at UFC 243.
There were a record 57,127 fans at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne as Australia’s Whittaker put his belt on the line in his own country.
“He [Whittaker] threw everything we expected,” Adesanya said in his post-fight Octagon interview.
“Like I said in the New York fight [victory over Derek Brunson], we had his plan A, Plan B and Plan C. In this fight, we had it all the way up to Z.
“Man, it’s honestly unreal. I’ve said this s*** for so long. They said I had no knockout power, ha ha ha.”
The experienced Whittaker became Australia’s first-ever UFC champion in December 2017 after UFC legend Georges St-Pierre vacated the title.
He had previously been crowned the interim champion of the division in his last fight before the announcement against Yoel Romero.
Adesanya, on the other hand, had less experience in MMA’s top promotion having only made his debut in February 2018.
The beginning of the fight was fairly even, with both fighters standing up to each other’s varied attacks.
This was the case right up until the final ten seconds of the first round, as Adesanya dropped Whittaker with a right hand that looked to send him out.
Adesanya hit Whittaker with a right handTNT Sports
And then a leftTNT Sports
Which sent the Australian dancing into the canvas only one second laterTNT Sports
Luckily for the Australian, the bell went almost immediately to signal the end of the round, allowing him to recover well and enter round two.
Both men came out firing in the second round with Whittaker getting the better of Adesanya early doors.
But the Kiwi was able to reply with his own combinations just like the first round.
As we approached the final two minutes of the second round, Whittaker, although looking more beaten up, seemed to be the shaarper of the two, attempting high kicks regularly to try and finish his opponent.
Then, with just over 90 seconds on the clock, Adesanya finished the fight.
Just as both fighters went to exchange, ‘The Last Stylebender’ slipped Whittaker’s attempt.
This allowed him to lean back, counter Whittaker with a right hand and instantly follow up with a left that cracked the Australian and sent him into a dancing daze, which ended on the canvas.
Pereira vs Rountree Jr headlines UFC 307 on Saturday
Referee Marc Goddard was quick on the scene to rush over and wave the fight off as Whittaker was out cold.
Adesanya would go on to defend the belt against five different times before dropping it to Alex Pereira.
Adesanya has predicted that Pereira will win his main event clash against Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 307 on Saturday night.
TalkSPORT.com has you covered with everything for UFC 307, with the main event set to begin at 3am for UK fans.
