Israel Adesanya knocked out Robert Whittaker in the second round to unify the middleweight championship at UFC 243 on October 5 from Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Adesanya came out bubbling with energy, even running through a choreographed dance routine before stepping foot inside the Octagon.
And the most lit walk out of all-time goes to …@Stylebender #UFC243 pic.twitter.com/OYYhWYwP6P
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2019
Whittaker opened the first round aggressively pushing forward toward Adesanya, changing levels and looking for openings to attack. Adesanya tried to find his range early on, but it was Whittaker charging in with the jab and following with combinations that had the challenger on his heels. Right before the horn sounded to end the round, Adesanya laid Whittaker clean down with a counter right hook, but couldn’t finish him before the ref jumped to send them to their corners.
Adesanya drops Whittaker as the horn sounds in round 1! Wow! #UFC243 pic.twitter.com/lR0ss8amj8
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2019
Whittaker picked up where he left off in the first round, with another aggressive start to the second. Adesanya appeared to stun Whittaker again with a counter right, but the champ recovered quickly. Whittaker blitzed forward again late in the round, but Adesanya caught him with a counter left hook and sent the champ sprawling backward before finishing him on the ground.
https://twitter.com/ftbeard_17/status/1180701608016932865
Adesanya entered Saturday night’s bout with an unbeaten record, knocking off Anderson Silva along the way and earning the interim middleweight title with a win over Kelvin Gastelum.
The main event fight was the first for Robert Whittaker in more than a year after undergoing emergency surgery for what could have been a fatal abdominal hernia. Whittaker came into the showdown with Adesanya riding a nine-fight win streak, with his last loss coming at the hands of Stephen Thompson by first-round knockout in 2014.
