Nigerian-born fighter, Israel Adesanya has emerged the undisputed UFC middleweight champion, after beating the former champion Robert Whittaker on Saturday night in Melbourne, Australia.
Following his victory, Adesanya has now improved his unbeaten MMA record to 18-0-0, and his UFC record is 7-0 in less than two years (18 months) into the sport.
In front of a big crowd at Marvel Stadium, Adesanya who entered the octagon as interim champion, knocked out Whittaker (20-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) at the 3:33 mark of the second round to unify the title.
The first round was cagey affair as both fighters failed to land significant blows, though, Whittaker came out loading up his shots, catching Adesanya several times with jabs, hooks and overhands.
However, as the round progressed, Adesanya got his bearing and struck back. He sent Whittaker to the canvass with a right hook straight to the face, but the horn stopped the Nigerian as he was about to apply the finish on the Aussie.
In the second round, Adesanya landed a head kick and several punches to Whittaker’s face which sent the Australian crashing to the ground, but the Nigerian still had time to apply the killer hammer punch to end the proceedings, a result that sees him become the new middleweight champion of the world at the 3:33 mark of the second round.
The scores at the time of the stoppage read 10-9 in favour of Adesanya.
Watch video of the Adesanya’s parents celebration after their son’s victory:
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