Full pay-per-view fight card:
Main event - Israel Adesanya v Robert Whittaker - Adesanya wins via unanimous decision
Co-main event - Derrick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa - Tuivasa wins via second-round KO
Derek Brunson v Jared Cannonier - Cannonier wins via second-round TKO
Alexander Hernandez v Renato Moicano - Hernandez wins via second-round submission
Bobby Green v Nasrat Haqparast - Green wins via unanimous decision
Live updates:
Main event - Israel Adesanya v Robert Whittaker - Adesanya wins via unanimous decision
6:55pm - And still! 'The Last Stylebender' makes it four consecutive title defences against a much improved Rob Whittaker.
Whittaker says he thought he won the fight, taking out the final four rounds. Eeventually he gives it up to Adesanya. Could we see this one again?
Thanks for reading, fight fans. Check out a full wrap here.
6:52pm - I have that 4-1 for Adesanya but there were some close rounds in there. Whittaker closed out well with a clear-cut win in the fifth. Let's see what the judges think.
Round five - Into the final five! Whittaker needs a stoppage here, I believe. But with MMA judging, you can never be sure. More urgency to start here from Adesanya. Whittaker stings him with a nice jab. Adesanya defends a takedown attempt. Level change from Whittaker and he drives through with the takedown, but again, Adesanya right back to his feet. Left hook on the break by Whittaker lands. Whittaker shoots again, has Adesanya clinched against the cage. This is probably Whittaker's best round yet, and the contest winds to a close with Adesanya pressed up against the fence. Respectful hug shared after the bell.
Round four - Into the championship rounds, we go. Nice knee in the clinch from Adesanya, who's reading Whittaker's attacks. Whittaker into the clinch, pounces on Adesanya's back but the champ keeps calm and shakes him off his back. Adesanya responds with more pressure, dictating space and going to work on Whittaker's leg. Suggestions Adesanya may have hurt his right hand, at least according to a text message Joe Rogan sent Jon Anik. Whittaker engages with another clinch but it's shortlived. This fight is close, but I still can't give Whittaker that round.
Round three - Rob hesitantly keeping his distance, circling away. More kicks from Adesanya, using his long-range weapons well. Nice jab from Whittaker but Adesanya's counter lands with a heavier thud. Adesanya with more brilliant takedown defence, lands a knee on the break. Adesanya slips on a high kick, Whittaker times his takedown well but can't hold him down. Back to the fence they go. Huge leg kick from Adesanya, almost spins Whittaker. That's another round in the bag for the Stylebender on my card.
Round two - Adesanya to the middle. Whittaker looked a little defeated coming off the stool. Whttaker lands a jab, looking a bit more settled. Clean left lands on Adesanya's chin. Whittaker shoots the double leg and wins the takedown, big moment. Adesanya swiftly back to his feet though, Rob holds him against the fence. Adesanya out of danger, they return to the middle. Adesanya fires his left leg kick high and low. Whittaker counters with a jab. Adesanya pressing lands the calf kick to en the round. Close round, I'd still edge that one for Adesanya.
Round one - Both men straight to the centre of the Octagon. 'Adesanya' chants break out early through the Toyota Center. Adesanya switching stances, firing leg kicks to find his range. This is clearly a much more patient Whittaker. So much space for Whittaker to have to close here to get to Adesanya, who is in and out of range in a flash. Adesanya testing with faints, leaves Whittaker lunging. Adesanya stinging Rob with calf kicks. Goes high, Rob ducks to safety. Huge right drops Rob to the mat! He's straight back up. Rob shoots, easily defended. Body kick lands from Adesanya. Great opening round for the champion.
6:20pm - Buffer steps forth with the intros. The Houston crowd is clearly in Adesanya's corner.
Anyone else nervous?
6:15pm - Huge pop from the Toyota Center as Adesanya flashes up on the Jumbotron.
No dance routine today. Pure business.
6:12pm - 'Bobby Knuckles' make his stroll to the Octagon to the Roy Jones Jr anthem 'Can't be touched'. How different will he look tonight compared to that first bout?
6:07pm - It's that time of the afternoon, fights fans. Buckle up.
Adesanya trying to add to his legacy, Whittaker out for redemption. This should be special.
Co-main event - Derrick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa - Tuivasa wins via second-round KO
6:02pm - Nasty elbow in the clinch was the start of the ending for Lewis. Western Sydney is heaving right now, what a win for the one and only.
Tuivasa wait until he makes his way out of the cage for his trademark 'shooey', suprising restraint.
Round two - Lewis opens with some uppercuts, Tai retreats hurt. Lewis clinches Tai against the fence. Huge knee, more uppercuts. Tai lands a massive right! He's wobbled, and to the mat he topples. This is over! Incredible win for Tuivasa.
Round one - Tuivasa to the middle early, gets comfortable with a few leg kicks. Clinches, Lewis against the cage. Lewis reverses, to the mat they go. Lewis lands some huge shots on Tai as he tries to get up, somehow the Aussie survives and works his way back to the clinch. Lewis lands another takedown from the clinch, stings a few more shots on the mat. One in the bag for Lewis.
5:47pm - Lewis matches his opponent's energy with some Slim Thug. Got to keep the locals happy.
5:45pm - Tuivasa makes his entrance to 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper. Th man is different - in a great way.
5:42pm - The hometown hero Lewis is up next. Can he prevent the fan fave Aussie Tuivasa from breaking out another celebratory 'shooey'?
Either way, I can't see this one going the full three rounds.
PS: The Champ is here. One fight remains until we see 'The Last Stylebender' back in action.
Derek Brunson v Jared Cannonier - Cannonier wins via second-round TKO
5:35pm - What a statement by Cannonier. I think he may have just booked himself a title shot there, if Adesanya can get past Whittaker for a second time.
Round two - Brunson immediately shoots and lands another takedown.Cannonier up fairly quickly, but they're really adding up now. Cannonier lands a heavy right hand. Not the same energy with these takedowns from Brunson, who wears another counter. Cannonier starting to put together some combos, ramping up the pace as Brunson slows. Cannonier rocks him! Pounces with some nasty elbows and the referee stops the fight as the white flag flies into the Octagon.
Round one - Brunson finds a leg after they two trade shots early. Secures the takedown eventually but it's short-lived, Cannonier back to his feet quickly. Brunson looking to clinch at any opportunity, Cannonier stuffs the sixth of seventh early takedown attempts. Brunson undetered, keeps on coming. Persistence pays off, gets the next one and immediately passes Cannonier's guard. Cannonier works his way out of danger and back to his feet. Heavy left hand counter by Brunson sends Cannonier to the mat! Brunson punces and wraps a rear-naked in, but Cannonier holds on to see out the round. Great start for the underdog Brunson.
5:10pm - What promises to be a middleweight title eliminator coming up next.
Adesanya has already expressed some interest in a rematch with Brunson, you'd have to think a win here will secure him exactly that.
Cannonier has long been touted as a potential contender but suffered a setback against Whittaker last year. Let's see how he responds.
Alexander Hernandez v Renato Moicano - Hernandez wins via second-round submission
5:04pm - Moicano rocks Hernandez, follows up with a right hook and a heavy knee. Hernandez tries to grab a leg for safety but Moicano swiftly reverses, tks the back, and forces the tap with a rear-naked choke.
5pm - First round in the bag for Hernandez. Looked sharp on the feet and really turned up the heat late.
4:55pm - The veteran savvy of Moicano up against the exuberance of Alexander 'The Great'. Both men have alternated between the win and loss columns, an ideal chance here to seize some momentum in the lightweight division.
Bobby Green v Nasrat Haqparast - Green wins via unanimous decision
4:43pm - Green pitches a shut-outagainst Haqparast. Arguably his best performance in an Octagon yet.
4:40pm - Green putting on a boxing clinic here, rolling in this third and final round.
4:35pm - Action-packed second round, the Toyota Center is loving this one. Still in Green's favour, should be up 2-0.
4:30pm - Spicy first round for Bobby Green, who works Haqparast over with his jab and throws in plenty of his trademark smack talk just to let him know about it.
4:16pm - Bobby Green and Nasrat Haqparast - a recent Dan Hooker victim - prepare to kick off the pay-per-view portion of proceedings.
4:10pm - Adesanya has been in the building for hours now, supporting his teammates Blood Diamond and Carlos Ulberg.
'Bobby Knuckles' has just touched down, we're four fights away from the main event.
4pm - 'Pitbull' has his hand raised in a low action split decision. Into the main card, we go!
3:42pm - Arlovski begins his 37th UFC appearance against Vanderaa in the final prelim bout, one shy of Jim Miller's record.
3:35pm - Split-decision win goes the way of the Aussie O'Neill, who extends her unbeaten record.
'The Happy Fighter' Modafferi leaves her gloves in the Octagon, signalling the end of her 40-plus fight career.
3:15pm - Aussie Casey O'Neill and Roxanne Modafferi are now doing battle, after Kyler Phillips scored a beautiful submission win over Marcelo Rojo.
Andrei Arlovski and Jared Vanderaa up next in a heavyweight duel, then we'll be heading to the main card.
Carlos Ulberg v Fabio Cherant - Ulberg wins via unaimous decision
2:32pm - 30-27s all round on the judges' scorecards to secure the Kiwi his first UFC win.
Round three - Ulberg again puts Cherant on the back foot to start the round. Ulberg patient with his shots, awaiting holes and firing. Dictating terms but his output is low, you'd like to see him ramp up the aggression a tad but you can't blame him for avoiding risk. Heavy right to the body, one of several weighty shots to the torso this round. Cherant has barely fired a shot here. Cherant throws a big right which misses, Ulberg sees the opening, shoots and wins a takedown. Three round shutout for Ulberg. The crowd's not happy, but a win is a win.
Round two - Cherant with a bit of confidence now, starts the round the aggressor. Heavy check left hook from Ulberg, opens a cut above Cherant's right eye. Ulberg pressing now, using his faints well. Picking and choosing his shots and landing with a high success rate. Cherant pressed to the cage, Ulberg stalking. Having his way here, is the Kiwi. Fighting with no fear of the takedown, calm and composed. Cherant will need a third round finish to win this one.
Round one - Ulberg takes the centre immediately. One minute in and we already have a 'Bachelor NZ' reference from the commentary team. Lengthy feeling out process here. Ulberg eager to pace himself, lessons learned from his Octagon debut. Heavy straight left lands from Ulberg but it's followed by a kick to the groin, Cherant regathers himself. Cherant's angry, charges in and lands a left, into the clinch they go. Ulberg revseres position though and completes the takedown, but they spring back to their feet. Lovely low kick trips Cherant. Ulberg lets him back up. Ulberg's spinning hook kick half lands, big gasps from the crowd. Cherant counters with a left that throws Ulberg off balance as the round closes. That should be one in the bag for the Kiwi.
2:11pm - Buffer launches into the intros. Ulberg's distinct height and reach advantages are already pretty clear.
Ulberg stands in front of a Samoan flag draped over the Octagon. We are on.
2:07pm - Both fighters making their way to the Octagon, let's get this started.
2pm - Just moments away from the second of three Kiwis on today's card. First a quick intermission while they transition to the next stage of the undercard.
1:58pm - Wild scrap between Martinez and Lawrence, absolute roller coaster. Early frontrunner for fight of the night. Lawrence has his hand raised, winner by unanimous decision.
'The Black Jag' is up next!
1:40pm - The final bout of the early prelims is underway between bantamweights Mana Martinez and Ronnie Lawrence.
After this we're into the prelims, where Kiwi Carlos Ulberg opens the next portion of proceedings against Fabio Cherant.
1:30pm - Fantastic peformance from Aussie Jacob Malkoun, who puts on a grappling masterclass to claim a unanimous decision win over AJ Dobson.
Stop sleeping on the 'Black Mamba'.
1:10pm - Tough day out for Blood Diamond, but he'll be much better off for the experience. It's a shame we never really got to see him put his stand-up game on display.
Showed plenty of heart to hold on through multiple submission attempts from Wells.
Summon that Anzac spirit, we now have Aussie Jacob Malkoun underway against AJ Dobson.
Blood Diamond v Jeremiah Wells - Wells wins via first-round submission
Round one - Wells circles and Blood responds by charging with a punch, and they're into the clinch. Wells with an underhook, looking to finish the takedown. Blood defending well, Wells unable to get his second hook in. Persistence pays off and Blood is to the mat, Wells takes his mat and gets his hooks in. This is a terrible position for Bloods. Wells opens up with some ground and pound, working for an armbar now. Blood hanging in there, trying to use the fence to make his escape. Wells looking for the rear naked choke now but he doesn't have the right angle from the back. Wells just muscles up and cranks the choke without the hooks now, and Blood has gone to sleep. This one is over.
12:29pm - Bruce Buffer announces 'Blood Diamond' for the very first time. Not a mention of his actual name, has to be unprecedented. Let's do this.
12:27pm - Blood Diamond looking calm and composed as he makes his entrance. So much experience behind him, with obver 100 kickboxing bouts under his belt.
12:23pm - Maxim Grishin earns a comfortable unanimous decision win. The first Kiwi of the day is about to take to the Octagon, stay tuned.
12:10pm - Afternoon, fight fans! We're in round two of the opening heavyweight clash betweeen Maxim Grishin and William Knight, after which we'll be straight into the Kiwi action, with Blood Diamond making his Octagon debut against Jeremiah Wells.
___________________________________________________________________________
Kia ora and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of UFC 271 in Houston, where Kiwi-Nigerian Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against NZ-born Aussie Robert Whittaker.
At UFC 243 in 2019, 'The Last Stylebender' sent Whittaker to the canvas in the second round of their main event clash at UFC 243 to secure the belt, which he's since defended three times.
Meanwhile, Whittaker has responded to that devastating loss by reeling off an impressive three-fight win streak to work his way back to the front of the queue of middleweight contenders.
The stars are aligning for a show-stopping main event.
Two of Adesanya's City Kickboxing teammates will also test their wares on Sunday, with Carlos Ulberg back in pursuit of his first UFC win, while Blood Diamond makes his Octagon debut.
The card features several other mouthwatering matchups, including a heavyweight showdown between Australian fan favourite Tai Tuivasa and local hero Derrick Lewis, and what shapes as a middleweight contender eliminator involving Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson.
Updates will begin from 12:20pm.
Preliminary card:
Andrei Arlovski v Jared Vanderaa - Arlovski wins via split decision
Roxanne Modafferi v Casey O'Neill - O'Neill wins via split decision
Kyler Phillips v Marcelo Rojo - Phillips wins via third-round submission
Fabio Cherant v Carlos Ulberg - Ulberg wins via unanimous decision
Early preliminary card:
Ronnie Lawrence vs. Mana Martinez - Lawrence wins via unaimous decision
AJ Dobson v Jacob Malkoun - Malkoun wins via unanimous decision
Douglas Silva de Andrade v Sergey Morozov - Silva de Andrade wins via second-round submission
Blood Diamond v Jeremiah Wells - Wells wins via first-round submission
Maxim Grishin v William Knight - Grishin wins via unanimous decision
'I want Israel to put on a clinic': Adesanya's coach Bareman seeking five-round shut-out against Whittaker
Kiwi MMA mastermind Eugene Bareman believes he's uncovered some new weaknesses in Robert Whittaker for his star student Israel Adesanya to exploit in their main event rematch at UFC 271 on Sunday (NZ time).
In 2019, Adesanya made quick work of the Kiwi-born Whittaker, twice sending him to the canvas en route to a second-round finish to clinch the UFC middleweight title.
In fact, the bout was so short-lived, it left precious few lessons for Bareman and his team to work with heading into the rematch.
Instead, the City Kickboxing sensei has turned his focus to Whittaker's most recent body of work - a three-fight win streak which he says is a much better reflection of 'Bobby Knuckles' as a fighter than was seen against Adesanya, when he abandoned his traditionally measured style in favor of an all-out aggressive assault.
"To be honest, we don't really take too much away from that first fight like we didn't, we didn't expect that to happen," Bareman tells Newshub.
"It's a bit difficult because that fight never really got started, so there's not too much you can pull away from it. But in the three fights that Robert had after that, there is a lot to garner from those three fights."
Adding that to their overall analysis of Whittaker's fight CV, Bareman is confident he's unearthed some "new vulnerabilities" for Adesanya to target.
"We've tailored that approach a little bit taking into account what we've learnt from those three fights," says Bareman, referring to Whittaker's unanimous decision wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum.
"We believe that there are some vulnerabilities there that were there before Israel fought him that we discovered from his previous body of work, and it was a very extensive body of work against some world class opponents.
"He's made improvement and that's been duly noted. But there's a couple of new things that we've seen, which we think we might be going to take advantage of as well."
Whittkaer has since put that performance down to an irrational anger he'd held towards Adesanya, which Bareman dismisses as a coping mechanism for being outclassed by 'The Last Stylebender'.
"It's a brilliant strategy by himself and his team," says Bareman.
"A great thing to do for fighters is to find little things that they can blame a loss on, outside of physically and technically just getting beaten.
"It's much easier to blame it on things like that than to admit that you were just technically and physically and strategically bested. It's much easier to say, 'yeah, he got in my head, so that ruined everything'.
"Yes, there's a little bit of that. But for the most part, you just got checkmated and you just weren't good enough. That's the truth of the matter."
With Whittaker insisting he's much more clear-headed and focused heading into their second bout, Bareman says it's now down to Adesanya to unequivocally prove his superiority.
"Israel definitely got into Robert's head a little bit, but Robert's a solid guy with so much experience. You don't just fall apart when someone calls you some names.
"Robert never showed that in the past. As a team, you do want to push everything towards that excuse. But at the end of the day, that's just an excuse.
"If he's not going to acknowledge he was technically outclassed, all we have to do is go and do that again."
Bareman describes this fight camp as "one of the hardest" of Adesanya's career, as they've tried to ensure there hasn't been a hint of the complacency which often comes with a rematch, where the first result weren't so decisively in your favour.
With a fighter of Adesnaya's experience, most of the focus has been on drawing "from the well" - taking his already vast array of techniques and further refining them for use.
After their truncated first bout, Bareman wants Adesanya to make a five-round statement against Whittaker - using all 25 minutes to reiterate his standing as one of the world's pound-for-pound best fighters.
"I want Israel to put on a clinic. I want Israel to show the science of boxing - like hitting and not getting hit.
"In many instances in MMA, it might not be as sophisticated as boxing in terms of the striking. But he can still bring across that notion that he can operate under the science of boxing.
"He can hit Robert and not get hit and just accumulate aggregate damage and just walk away with these rounds without having any doubt in the judges' minds.
"That's what I would like to see."
