| UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
| 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 who competes in the Light heavyweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). He is most notable for his 21 fight tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) between 2012 and 2023, where he competed in the Middleweight division.
Robert John Whittaker is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and the first Australian to win a UFC championship. As of 29 October 2024, he is #4 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Kelvin Gastelum is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gastelum earned a contract with the UFC after winning The Ultimate Fighter 17 in 2013. Gastelum has also competed in the middleweight division.
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-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, former kickboxer and boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of 23 January 2024, he is #2 in the UFC middleweight rankings and as of 29 October 2024, he is #15 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Jared Christopher Cannonier is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 28, 2024, he is #8 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Marvin Vettori is an Italian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2012, Vettori is a former Venator FC Welterweight Champion. As of October 28, 2024, he is #7 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 on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 28, 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 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 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.
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