A new No. 1 contender emerged for Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 on Saturday night, and the UFC middleweight champion is ready for the fresh challenge.
Just before he met Robert Whittaker in the Octagon for a second time, Adesanya caught a glimpse of the fight between Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier. Though never explicitly stated by the UFC brass, the winner was expected to challenge either ‘The Last Stylebender’ or ‘The Reaper’ for the middleweight championship, depending on the outcome of their rematch.
Despite a rough start that saw him dropped and locked up in a rear-naked choke, Cannonier turned the tide against Brunson and finished him with a series of hellacious elbows in the second round.