UFC 234 Results: With No Title Fight, Israel Adesanya Vs. Anderson Silva Headlines Show
Despite losing the planned main event for UFC 234, officials continued on with the event Saturday from Australia. Robert Whittaker, the reigning middleweight champion, was forced out of a planned title defense vs. Kelvin Gastelum earlier in the day after suffering an abdominal hernia. Whittaker underwent emergency surgery and is expected to be cleared to return to training in about two months.
Instead of Whittaker vs. Gastelum, fans were treated to Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva battling in the headline fight. Adesanya scored a decision victory over the former UFC middleweight champion, sweeping the scorecards to remain undefeated in his career.
For Adesanya, he called the bout "crazy" for the opportunity to square off against Silva, who was fighting for the first time in over two years after a suspension for a failed drug test.
"This is like for a kid just to play," he added. "If I'm playing basketball, (it's like) playing Michael Jordan."
The new co-main event was a bout bumped up from the early prelims, as Lando Vannata scored a first round submission over Marcos Mariano. Other main card winners included Ricky Simon, Montana De La Rosa and Jimmy Crute, with De La Rosa scoring a submission and Crute earning a first round TKO victory.
Complete results are below:
Israel Adesanya def. Anderson Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Lando Vannata def. Marcos Mariano via submission (kimura) at 4:55 of Round 1
Rani Yahya def. Ricky Simon via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
Montana De La Rosa def. Nadia Kassem via verbal submission (armbar) at 2:37 of Round 2
Jim Crute def. Sam Alvey via TKO (strikes) at 2:49 of Round 1
Devonte Smith def. Dong Hyun Ma via TKO (strikes) at 3:53 of Round 1
Shane Young def. Austin Arnett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kai Kara-France def. Raulian Paiva via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Kyung Ho Kang def. Teruto Ishihara via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:59 of Round 1
Jalin Turner def. Callan Potter via KO (strike) at :53 of Round 1
Jonathan Martinez def. Wuliji Buren via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)