| UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 12, 2022 | |||
| Venue | Toyota Center | |||
| City | Houston, Texas, United States | |||
| Attendance | 17,872 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $4,300,000 [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. [2]
A UFC Middleweight Championship rematch between then champion Israel Adesanya and former champion Robert Whittaker (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) served as the event's headliner. [3] The pairing met previously in October 2019 at UFC 243, when then interim champion Adesanya knocked out Whittaker in the second round to unify the middleweight title. [4]
A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Alex Perez and Matt Schnell was expected to take place at this event. [5] They were previously scheduled to meet on four occasions (UFC 262, UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze, UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till and UFC 269), but the contest was cancelled each time due to different reasons. [6] [7] [8] [9] At the weigh-ins, Perez came in at 128 pounds and did not attempt to try again, resulting in Matt Schnell refusing to take the catchweight bout and the bout being scrapped. [10]
A potential middleweight title eliminator bout between Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson was scheduled for UFC 270. [11] However, the pairing was moved to this event due to undisclosed reasons. [12]
2016 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling Mark Madsen and Vinc Pichel were expected to meet in a lightweight bout. [13] However, they were pushed back to UFC 273 due to unknown reasons. [14]
A welterweight between Orion Cosce and Mike Mathetha was scheduled for the event. [15] However, Cosce was pulled from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Jeremiah Wells. [16]
A light heavyweight bout between Maxim Grishin and Ed Herman was scheduled for this event. [17] However in late January, Herman withdrew due to unknown reasons and was replaced by William Knight. [18] At the weigh-ins, Knight weighed in at 218 pounds, 12 pounds over the light heavyweight non-title fight limit, marking the biggest weight miss in UFC history. [19] As a result, the bout was shifted to heavyweight and Knight was fined 40% of his purse, which went to Grishin. [20]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Israel Adesanya (c) | def. | Robert Whittaker | Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Heavyweight | Tai Tuivasa | def. | Derrick Lewis | KO (elbow) | 2 | 1:40 | |
| Middleweight | Jared Cannonier | def. | Derek Brunson | KO (elbows) | 2 | 4:29 | |
| Lightweight | Renato Moicano | def. | Alexander Hernandez | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:23 | |
| Lightweight | Bobby Green | def. | Nasrat Haqparast | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Andrei Arlovski | def. | Jared Vanderaa | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Casey O'Neill | def. | Roxanne Modafferi | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Kyler Phillips | def. | Marcelo Rojo | Submission (triangle armbar) | 3 | 1:48 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Carlos Ulberg | def. | Fabio Cherant | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Ronnie Lawrence | def. | Leomana Martinez | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Jacob Malkoun | def. | A.J. Dobson | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Douglas Silva de Andrade | def. | Sergey Morozov | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 3:24 | |
| Welterweight | Jeremiah Wells | def. | Mike Mathetha | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:38 | |
| Heavyweight | Maxim Grishin | def. | William Knight | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. [22]
Derek Brunson is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of March 7, 2023, he is #8 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Robert John Whittaker is an Australian professional mixed martial artist born in New Zealand. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Whittaker was a contestant on the first series of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and won the welterweight tournament. Whittaker became interim middleweight champion after winning the title at UFC 213; he was promoted to undisputed champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the UFC Middleweight Championship in 2017. As of November 15, 2022, he is #2 in the UFC middleweight rankings, and as of April 18, 2023, he is #15 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Kelvin Gastelum is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gastelum has competed for the UFC since he won The Ultimate Fighter 17. As of June 27, 2023, he is #12 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Vincent Alan Pichel is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2009, Pichel was also a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Live.
Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya is a Nigerian and New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current and two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of March 21, 2023, he is #5 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Jared Cannonier is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of June 20, 2023, he is ranked #3 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Marvin Vettori is an Italian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2012, Vettori is a former Venator FC Welterweight Champion. As of June 20, 2023, he is #4 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 7, 2020 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 21, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 4, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 22, 2022 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 9, 2022, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 2, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 17, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Procházka was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 12, 2022, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 30, 2022, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 15, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 21, 2023, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 1, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Strickland vs. Magomedov was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 1, 2023, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
