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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Martin Domin

Robert Whittaker's face squashed by brutal knee to his chin from Israel Adesanya

This is the moment Robert Whittaker feels the full force of Israel Adesanya's knee - and remains standing.

Whittaker was outpointed in his rematch with the UFC middleweight champion as he failed to win back his belt.

But his display won plenty of plaudits with some fans and commentators convinced he had done enough to have his hand raised.

And Whittaker himself felt he deserved to leave the cage with the belt.
"I know I started off rocky in that first round, but I feel like I took every round after that," he said. "It is what it is, but you know what they say about leaving it to the judges.

"I'm happy that I fought my heart out and left it here. But, I'm gutted. I thought I did enough. I thought I took that."

Adesanya, who was making the fourth defence of his title, wants to return to the cage in June with UFC president Dana White confirming Jared Cannonier earned his shot at the champion with his win over Derek Brunson.

"I knew he was going to bring everything, because last time I took everything away from him," Adesanya said. "So, he had nothing to lose. And like I said, I'm the champ... come get it.

"I know June doesn't have a pay-per-view yet, but like I said, I'm the new dog in the yard, I'm the big dog in the yard now. And I know the other dog, Jared Cannonier, did some work tonight."

Israel Adesanya celebrates his win over Robert Whittaker in Texas (Getty Images)

Adesanya had knocked out Whittaker in the second round of their first meeting in 2019 but was taken the five-round distance last night. He was given the nod by all three judges by scores of 48-47 (twice) and 49-46.

Earlier on the UFC 271 card, popular heavyweight Tai Tuivasa knocked out Derrick Lewis to continue his march towards a title shot.

Tuivasa landed an elbow in the second round which sent Lewis crashing face-first to the canvas.

"That’s the king of knockouts, much respect to Derrick,” Tuivasa said. “I’m young and up and coming. I’m taking over now. My name’s Tai like Muay Thai! I like throwing elbows. I like getting nitty gritty and I’m f****** always down to get down."

Renato Moicano's second-round submission over Alexander Hernandez and Bobby Green's points win over Nasrat Haqparas completed the main card.

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