UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya withstood the challenge of Robert Whittaker last time out at UFC 271. In February he defeated ‘The Reaper’ by unanimous decision to claim his fourth UFC title defence.
Adesanya won his belt from Whittaker back in 2019, with a second round KO at UFC 243. Since then he has beaten Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. His only blemish over this time, and his MMA career as a whole, is a loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 last March when Adesanya unsuccessfully challenged for the Pole’s UFC light heavyweight title.
Adesanya’s current field of challengers includes Jared Cannonier, who defeated Derek Brunson at UFC 271, and—further down the list—Sean Strickland, Jack Hermansson and Darren Till.