5 questions that could be answered at UFC 271

The UFC returns to pay-per-view this Saturday night, live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event will be headlined by the middleweight championship rematch between Israel Adesanya and former champion Robert Whittaker. The champion will look to continue his reign and cement his legacy as one of the promotion’s greatest middleweights.

The event also features another middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier. There will also be a heavyweight clash between two fan favorites as Derrick Lewis takes on Tai Tuivasa.

Former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski headlines the prelim portion of the event when he takes on Jared Vanderaa. The 43-year-old is riding back-to-back wins and will look to extend that on Saturday night. This list will look at 5 questions that could be answered at UFC 271.

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#5. Will former UFC title challenger Roxanne Modafferi retire with a win?

Shortly after her bout was made official, Roxanne Modafferi announced that she’ll be retiring at UFC 271. Although her record might not reflect it, she has had a successful MMA career. The TUF alum has competed in major promotions and in multiple weight classes.

‘The Happy Warrior’s' best opportunity at winning gold in the promotion came in 2017, when she fought Nicco Montano. She replaced Sijara Eubanks after she was forced to withdraw from the bout. This was significant as the bout would crown the promotion’s inaugural women’s flyweight champion. She came up short, but earned a Fight of the Night bonus.

Modafferi will be in for a tough challenge in her final bout, as she takes on ‘King’ Casey O’Neill. The 24-year-old has climbed the flyweight ranks and has an unbeaten 8-0 record. She is coming off an impressive TKO win over Antonina Shevchenko, which earned her a Performance of the Night bonus.

#4. Will UFC president Dana White announce plans for the heavyweight championship?

Following UFC 270, Dana White has yet to announce what his plans are for the heavyweight division going forward. Regardless of whether reigning champion Francis Ngannou re-signs or not, he’s still expected to be out of action. He revealed that he’ll require surgery to repair his MCL and ACL, so he could be out for up to a year.

Due to the champion’s expected inactivity, the promotion will need to create an interim championship for the time being. Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones vs. former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic would make perfect sense.

Jones' heavyweight debut should be against somebody of Miocic’s caliber. The bout would generate plenty of interest and allow the promotion to keep the division going in ‘The Predator’s' absence. With Jones planting the seeds on social media, perhaps White will make those plans official at this Saturday’s event.

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#3. Could Tai Tuivasa become the next top heavyweight contender?

Tai Tuivasa has become one of the most popular heavyweights in the UFC. He has connected with fans to the point that his shoey celebration has taken off. The shoey celebration has drawn comparisons to WWE Hall of Famer ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.

‘Bam Bam’ has also ascended the heavyweight ranks and will be in for the toughest test of his career on Saturday. He will be fighting the No.3-ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis, who is coming off a knockout win over Chris Daukaus. ‘The Black Beast’ was able to rebound from his setback last summer, when he lost to Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.

Tuivasa has an excellent opportunity to put himself in the title mix and become a top heavyweight contender. A win over Lewis would make it five-straight and likely see him climb from eleventh in the rankings to the top-5.

#2. Who will earn the next UFC middleweight title shot?

­The winner of the UFC middleweight championship main event won’t have to wait very long to find their next opponent.

Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier are scheduled to compete at the event and the bout is already being considered a title-eliminator. Brunson has experienced a career resurgence since his loss to Adesanya in 2018. He has won his last five fights and could set himself up for his first title shot.

‘The Killa Gorilla’ on the other hand, will look to continue his momentum from his win over Kelvin Gastelum. He has the skillset to finish the fight with striking, however, Brunson doesn’t seem too considered with his power.

“You have to bring a lot more than that to the table. My whole thing this training camp is to worry about myself and not let guys get lucky and be a complete mixed-martial-artist.” Derek Brunson to MMA Junkie

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#1. Who will win the UFC middleweight championship rematch?

Israel Adesanya celebrates winning the middleweight title at UFC 243

The rematch between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker will answer plenty of questions.

This main event title fight is a rematch of their 2019 encounter, which saw ‘The Last Stylebender’ become the new champion. He caught the then-middleweight king during an exchange and picked up the knockout win. Adesanya is hoping 2022 will be a bounce back year of sorts as he felt his 2021 was lackluster.

It’ll be interesting to see whether he has his sights set on another attempt at the light heavyweight championship. If victorious, it would be his second-straight title defense since his last attempt, so he might see an opportunity at 205lbs.

‘Bobby Knuckles’ fought his way back to a rematch and has shown improvements. He has three-straight unanimous decision wins over Gastelum, Cannonier, and Darren Till. The former middleweight champion could potentially set the stage for a trilogy bout should he regain the title. If Whittaker wins, that’ll give each fighter a win and so, a third fight would be the next logical step.