Nigerian-New Zealander, Israel Adesanya scored a stunning second-round TKO of Robert Whittaker to crown himself as the undisputed middleweight champion in front of 55,000 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
HUGE KNOCKDOWN TO FINISH THE ROUND! ?@Stylebender with a game changer as we close Round 1️⃣!#UFC243 ?? pic.twitter.com/WmwyBPki6I
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“The Reaper” was the more aggressive in the first round, with Adesanya scoping the Australian’s offence out.
But “The Last Stylebender” – 4 inches taller with a 6-and-a-half inch reach advantage – dramatically dropped Whittaker with a counter left hook in the final second of the first round – though the Australian was seemingly saved by the buzzer.
Adesanya began to roll in the second round, showing off his arsenal of slick offensive and defensive moves, before catching Whittaker again with another counter. Whittaker went down and the referee stepped in after the Nigerian-New Zealander got off a couple more shots.
“I’m real petty, I remember everything like an elephant. I was in the nosebleeds, and now I made his nosebleed,” said the undefeated Adesanya, who moved to 18-0 overall and 7-0 in the UFC, where he only made his debut in 2018.
“He threw everything we expected, in this fight we had it all the way up to his Plan Z. That’s a nice one he caught me with but look at the return. I don’t like to get hit, it’s stupid to get hit. But I’m tough. Me and my team, we’re smart.”
