Robert Whittaker will get his well deserved rematch for the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 271 in two weeks.
After getting knocked out by Adesanya back at UFC 243 in 2019, ‘The Reaper’ has picked up three wins against contenders: Jared Cannonier, Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum to earn a second crack at the champion.
If the outcome of this fight is no different to the first, then that’ll be Adesanya’s fourth championship defence and his sixth championship fight victory, clearing out the biggest threats to his title.
However, there are still two major contenders that could be next in line for a title shot if the champion prevails. Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson will go head to head on the same night as Adesanya and Whittaker. With both men ranked third and fourth in the rankings, the winner should definitely put themselves next in line for a shot at the title, as Adesanya would’ve beaten the top two challengers twice.
Derek Brunson, who hasn’t lost since getting knocked out Adesanya in 2018, will be looking to give the champion a tougher fight as ‘The Last Stylebender’ cruised to victory in their meeting at UFC 230. If Cannonier wins, he’d provide the champion with a fresh opponent. With incredible power and good striking, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ could pose a threat to Adesanya’s title if he can get into the pocket of the champion, something easier said than done.
If Whittaker wins, I’d expect a trilogy fight between the two Oceanic fighters before anyone else gets a shot at the title, just because that would be one of the biggest trilogies in UFC history.
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