| UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12) | |||
| Venue | Toyota Center | |||
| City | Houston, Texas, United States | |||
| Attendance | 17,872[1] | |||
| Total gate | $4,300,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at theToyota Center inHouston, Texas, United States.[2]
AUFC Middleweight Championship rematch between then championIsrael Adesanya and former championRobert Whittaker (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) served as the event's headliner.[3] The pairing met previously in October 2019 atUFC 243, when then interim champion Adesanya knocked out Whittaker in the second round to unify the middleweight title.[4]
A flyweight bout between formerUFC Flyweight Championship challengerAlex Perez andMatt Schnell was expected to take place at this event.[5] They were previously scheduled to meet on four occasions (UFC 262,UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze,UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till andUFC 269), but the contest was cancelled each time due to different reasons.[6][7][8][9] At the weigh-ins, Perez came in at 128 pounds and did not attempt to try again, resulting in Matt Schnell refusing to take the catchweight bout and the bout being scrapped.[10]
A potential middleweight title eliminator bout betweenJared Cannonier andDerek Brunson was scheduled forUFC 270.[11] However, the pairing was moved to this event due to undisclosed reasons.[12]
2016 Olympic silver medalist in wrestlingMark Madsen andVinc Pichel were expected to meet in a lightweight bout.[13] However, they were pushed back toUFC 273 for unknown reasons.[14]
A welterweight between Orion Cosce and Mike Mathetha was scheduled for the event.[15] However, Cosce was pulled from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and replaced byJeremiah Wells.[16]
A light heavyweight bout betweenMaxim Grishin andEd Herman was scheduled for this event.[17] However in late January, Herman withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced byWilliam Knight.[18] At the weigh-ins, Knight weighed in at 218 pounds, 12 pounds over the light heavyweight non-title fight limit, marking the biggest weight miss in UFC history.[19] As a result, the bout was shifted to heavyweight and Knight was fined 40% of his purse, which went to Grishin.[20]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Israel Adesanya (c) | def. | Robert Whittaker | Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Tai Tuivasa | def. | Derrick Lewis | KO (elbow) | 2 | 1:40 | |
| Middleweight | Jared Cannonier | def. | Derek Brunson | KO (elbows) | 2 | 4:29 | |
| Lightweight | Renato Moicano | def. | Alexander Hernandez | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:23 | |
| Lightweight | Bobby Green | def. | Nasrat Haqparast | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Andrei Arlovski | def. | Jared Vanderaa | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Casey O'Neill | def. | Roxanne Modafferi | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Kyler Phillips | def. | Marcelo Rojo | Submission (triangle armbar) | 3 | 1:48 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Carlos Ulberg | def. | Fabio Cherant | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Ronnie Lawrence | def. | Leomana Martinez | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Jacob Malkoun | def. | A.J. Dobson | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Douglas Silva de Andrade | def. | Sergey Morozov | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 3:24 | |
| Welterweight | Jeremiah Wells | def. | Mike Mathetha | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:38 | |
| Heavyweight | Maxim Grishin | def. | William Knight | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[22]
