It was the contest many expected. It was the result many foresaw, too – but it arguably shouldn’t have been.
Robert Whittaker was not himself when he surrendered the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya on home soil in October 2019. The burnout and pressure that had plagued the Australian prior to his Melbourne clash with the Nigerian-born New Zealander seeped into his performance that night, when a record UFC crowd watched Adesanya knock down Whittaker in Round 1 and finish him in Round 2 to take the gold.
