Israel Adesanya Stops Robert Whittaker, Unifies Middleweight Titles At UFC 243
Israel Adesanya showed that the future is now, stopping Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 243 Saturday night and becoming the undisputed middleweight champion. The event took place from the Marvel Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
Adesanya, who entered as the interim champion after topping Kelvin Gastelum earlier this year, remained unbeaten with a second round knockout victory. He has scored Octagon victories over Whittaker, Gastelum and Anderson Silva since February of this year.
Whittaker lost for the first time since he was finished in 2014 by Stephen Thompson. He had won nine consecutive fights before the setback.
In the co-main event, Dan Hooker claimed a convincing decision victory over Al Iaquinta, Sergey Spivak upset Tai Tuivasa in a heavyweight collision, Dhiego Lima bested Luke Jumeau and Yorgan de Castro knocked out Justin Tafa to begin the main card.
Jake Matthews, Callan Potter, Brad Riddell, former Invicta FC champion Megan Anderson, Ji Yeon Kim and Khalid Taha were among the prelim winners. Anderson claimed a submission victory, Kim won via TKO and Taha stopped his opponent with a submission.
Complete UFC 243 results are below:
* Israel Adesanya def. Robert Whittaker via KO (strike) at 3:33 of Round 2 to become undisputed UFC middleweight champion
* Dan Hooker def. Al Iaquinta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
* Sergey Spivak def. Tai Tuivasa via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:14 of Round 2
* Dhiego Lima def. Luke Jumeau via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
* Yorgan de Castro def. Justin Tafa via KO (strikes) at 2:10 of Round 1
* Jake Matthews def. Rostem Akman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Callan Potter def. Maki Pitolo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* Brad Riddell def. Jamie Mullarkey via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
* Megan Anderson def. Zarah Fairn dos Santos via submission (triangle choke) at 3:57 of Round 1
* Ji Yeon Kim def. Nadia Kassem via TKO (strikes) at 4:59 of Round 2
* Khalid Taha def. Bruno Gustavo Aparecido da Silva via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:00 of Round 3