Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 official UFC 271 scorecard

Israel Adesanya couldn’t put Robert Whittaker away this time and that meant he had to sweat out the scorecards.

In the end, Adesanya was once again victorious over his rival as he won a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) over Whittaker to retain his middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 271 on Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. It was the fourth straight successful title defense for Adesanya.

Outside of the first round, which saw Adesanya score the lone knockdown of the fight, the bout was a competitive one and that was reflected on the judges’ scorecards:

Rounds 2, 4, and 5 were not unanimous according to judges Jacob Montalvo, Doug Crosby, and Mike Beltran. All three agreed that the champion took Rounds 1 and 3.

Saturday’s main event was a rematch from UFC 243 in October 2019. At that event, Adesanya was the challenger and he defeated Whittaker by second-round knockout to claim the middleweight title. Whittaker went the distance this time, but fell short despite a competitive effort.