Nigerian UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has successfully defended his title after beating Australian Rob Whittaker.
Adesanya won the fight via unanimous decision, winning on all three judges scorecards.
The judges scored the fight 48-47, 48-47, 49-46, all in favour of Adesanya.
The fight was the second battle between the two, after the Nigerian initially won the UFC middleweight title off Whittaker in 2019.
Adesanya knocked out Whittaker, known as ‘The Reaper’, in two rounds back in 2019 but had to grind out a five-round victory this time.
The Nigerian, also known as ‘The last stylebender’, started promisingly, knocking down Whittaker in round one.
However, the Australian grew more into the fight in later rounds as he mixed take-downs in with his punching attempts.
He had his strongest round in the fifth but ultimately did not do enough to wrestle the title away from the Champion.
Adesanya has now defended his title successfully for the fourth time since winning it, beating Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori and now Whittaker..
Alongside with Kamaru Usman, the two Nigerians continue to dominate the UFC middleweight and welterweight divisions.
Congratulations to Izzy and as always, Naija never dey carry last!
