Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 scorecards

Israel Adesanya faced off against Robert Whittaker in a rematch at UFC 271. There, the reigning middleweight champion successfully defended his title against 'The Reaper'.

In their first bout at UFC 243, 'The Last Stylebender' took the title from Whittaker, knocking the Australian fighter out in the second round. In their second meeting, however, Whittaker put up a better fight and even had success taking the champ down.

However, Israel Adesanya successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision victory. The judges scored the bout 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 in Adesanya's favor.

Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker scorecards [Image courtesy: ufc.com]

Judges Jacob Montalvo and Dough Crosby scored the first three rounds 10-9 in Adesanya's favor. They gave Whittaker a 10-9 in the last two rounds. Judge Mike Beltran, meanwhile, scored rounds one, three, four and five 10-9 in favor of Adesanya. He scored the second round 10-9 in favor of Robert Whittaker.

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Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 fight stats

The second bout between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker was a back-and-forth affair that saw both fighters bring their A-game. Unlike their first meeting, the champion couldn't put away the former titleholder and scored a unanimous decision victory.

According to the official UFC stats, Adesanya had a higher strike rate of 46%, landing a total of 98 out of 188 attempted strikes. Whittaker had a strike rate of 43% and landed 74 out of 151 attempted strikes.

'The Reaper' had a takedown rate of 40%, securing four takedowns out of 10 attempts. He had a total ground control time of 3:40 minutes.

In terms of significant strikes, 'The Last Stylebender' landed 79 out of 169 attempted strikes. 'The Reaper', meanwhile, landed 59 out of 156 significant strikes in the fight. Whittaker also had better exchanges in the clinch, landing five out of six significant strikes.

Whittaker is coming off a win over Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris. He is scheduled to face Paulo Costa at UFC 284 next February.

Adesanya, meanwhile, is set to defend his title against Alex Pereira this Saturday at UFC 281. He last defended his title against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276, where he won via unanimous decision.