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UFC 271 Preview

UFC 271

(Photo by Jasmin Frank/USA TODAY Sports)

UFC 271
(Photo by Jasmin Frank/USA TODAY Sports)

UFC 271 Preview

UFC 271 is nearly here and is headlined by a middleweight title rematch over two years in the making. But before middleweight king Israel Adesanya defends his belt against former champion Robert Whittaker 14 other fights will take place. Of the 14 other fights at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas a hometown hero looks to continue a return to title contention but has to get through a heavyweight from down under on a four-fight winning streak with all the wins coming by knockout. After a lackluster fight card a weekend ago the UFC is back with a banging card that is sure to see some big finishes and guarantees to be an entertaining event. UFC 271 starts on Saturday, February 12, at 6:00 PM ET with the prelims on ESPN+ with the main card getting underway at 10:00 PM ET which will be on PPV through ESPN+.

Main Card

Israel Adesanya (C) vs Robert Whittaker (1) Middleweight

On October 6, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia the UFC middleweight division was set to be unified as champion Robert Whittaker took on the interim champion Israel Adesanya. In front of the UFC’s record audience with over 57,000 in attendance, Adesanya needed only two rounds to knock out Australia’s first-ever champion in Whittaker. Since that fight, both fighters have been invincible in the middleweight division winning each of their three fights. Adesanya did lose a fight against the UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz when he attempted to move up weight classes and become the eighth double champ to step foot in the octagon.

The loss to Blachowicz was the lone defeat of Adesanya’s career and for the first time in the UFC, he was outclassed by Blachowicz especially on the ground. That fight however was quickly forgotten as the champion from New Zealand dominated Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 winning by unanimous decision and defending his belt for the third time. Adesanya is now 10-1 in the UFC and a perfect 10-0 in the middleweight division while rocking a professional record of 21-1. A win against Whittaker on Saturday would put himself even deeper in the discussion for the greatest middleweight of all time along with Anderson Silva. Since beating Whittaker in the first fight Adesanya has quickly risen to be one of the biggest fighters in the UFC and that is in large part to how he defended his title against fan-favorite Yoel Romero and then power puncher Paulo Costa. 

Standing across from him is the only fighter in the middleweight division that really has any chance currently of dethroning “The Last Stylebender”. Whittaker has been dominant since losing his belt against Adesanya. He has unanimous decision wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum that propelled him back to the top of the division and earned him the right to take on his rival Adesanya. If anyone has the skill to beat Adesanya it’s Whittaker due to his strong standup game and also he has prior experience against him.

After seeing how Adesanya was dominated on the ground by Blachowicz it was surprising to see a much-improved takedown defense in his next fight with Vettori that saw off 10 of 14 takedown attempts by the Italian. This will be an interesting aspect to look for in the rematch because it may be one of the only ways that Whittaker can beat Adesanya who is an extremely skilled striker.

Prediction

As good as “The Reaper” is, “The Last Stylebender” is just as good if not better and this fight should be full of continuous action as the two go back and forth exchanging blows. If Whittaker can get Adesanya to the ground and keep him there it will bode very well for the Aussie, but if not it could very well be another masterclass striking performance put on by Adesanya. I have this fight going to Adesanya by KO.

Derrick Lewis (3) vs Tai Tuivasa (11) Heavyweight

Derrick Lewis was close to finally getting his hands on the UFC belt when he faced Ciryl Gane for the interim championship. Lewis lost that fight in his hometown of Houston by third-round TKO. Now “The Black Beast” is back in Houston for UFC 271 after a win over current #7 ranked Chris Daukas in the last fight of 2021. In the win over Daukas, Lewis became the UFC’s all-time leader in knockouts with 13. Of his 26 MMA wins in his career Lewis has won 21 of them by knockout. The win over Daukas moved his record to 26-8 with 1 no contest.

It will be very likely that another knockout will take place as Tai Tuivasa will be standing across the ring from him. Bam Bam as Tuivasa is nicknamed has 13 professional wins with 12 coming by knockout. Tuivasa is currently riding a four-fight win streak with all four fights finishing with a knockout. This four-fight win streak did come after a three-fight losing streak for Tuivasa that ended a perfect 9-0 start. Now 13-3 Tuivasa has risen up the rankings to number 13 and has brought an action-packed style with him.

No matter what this should be entertaining from the walkouts until the post-fight interview as Lewis is known for having interesting interviews while Tuivasa has made his signature shoey celebration well known as well. For those who may not know following every win, Tuivasa leaps atop the cage and pours a beer into a shoe before chugging it. In the week leading up to the fight, Tuivasa said he would even chug a beer out of Lewis’s cup since Lewis threw his cup into the crowd last time out. A win for Lewis will put him right back to the top of the heavyweight division and close to another title shot after Francis Ngannou defeated Gane last month at UFC 270 to retain the belt. For Tuivasa at only 28 years of age, a win will push him into the top 10 and assert himself as one of the best up and coming fighters.

Prediction

This fight might go past round one, but no chance it goes much further as there will be a knockout blow landed. A new era of heavyweights is starting to arrive and a win by Tuivasa will solidify that. As much as I want to pick Lewis based on entertainment and his past fighting legacy I am going with Tuivasa by KO.

Jared Cannonier (3) vs Derek Brunson (4) Middleweight

Keeping a strong eye on the middleweight title fight between Adesanya and Whittaker will be both Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson. This is because the winner of this fight at UFC 271 could likely be next up to challenge for UFC gold.

Cannonier is in his third weight class in the UFC but found a home in the UFC’s middleweight division where he is 4-1 since moving down from the light heavyweight division. His only loss came at the hands of Whittaker two fights ago, but he bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum last August.

Fighting Cannonier is another fighter on a hot streak as Derek Brunson has won five fights in a row since losing by TKO to Adesanya at UFC 230 in November 2018. During the win streak, Brunson has shown his all-around skill by picking up wins by decision, knockout, and submission. His last fight came against Darren Till last September where Brunson won by submission with a rear-naked choke.

Prediction

Brunson has a plan to beat Cannonier and then Adesanya and then retire as champion. However, Cannonier is currently standing in the way of that plan and with a win of his own could be a champion by his next fight. It would be a nice walk-off for Brunson to end his career like that, but Cannonier will be too much and get the win by decision.

Prelim Fights to Watch

Andrei Arlovski vs Jared Vanderaa Heavyweight

At 43 years old Belarus’s Andrei Arlovski has seen it all in his MMA career. Arlovski will enter the UFC octagon for his 37th time tying himself with Donald “Cowboy” Cerone for the second most UFC fights ever, only one behind Jim Miller. The former UFC heavyweight champion comes in having won four of his last five fights including back-to-back wins over Chase Sherman and Carlos Felipe. Now he will face Jared Vanderaa who will be making only his fourth UFC appearance at UFC 271. Vanderaa is 1-2 in the UFC since making his debut early in 2021. His lone win came in his second fight against Justin Tafa by decision. He will be looking to get back in the win column and even his UFC record out.

Prediction

Seniority wins this one. Arlovski has continued to turn back the clock and will do so again against Vanderaa winning by decision.

Roxanne Modafferi (12) vs Casey O’Neill (15) Flyweight

The only women’s fight of the night comes between two more fighters at opposite ends of their careers with Roxanne Modafferi entering her 45th fight and Casey O’Neill entering her ninth. It has been a rough stretch of late for Modafferi who only has one win in her last four fights. O’Neill still sits perfect in her career with a record of 8-0. She has won all three of her UFC fights with a finish, two TKOs and one submission, and looks to move up the rankings with a win over the higher-ranked fighter. In her last fight, she finished Antonia Shevchenko, sister of UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Prediction

While seniority wins in Arlovski vs Vanderaa the same will not happen here. O’Neill has had a great start to her young career and at only 24 years old she has the potential to be a champion in the future. I have O’Neill winning by knockout.

Jeremiah Wells vs Blood Diamond Welterweight

The second fight of the night is between fighters who have had a combined two fights between them since the end of 2019. One of the best names in fighting, Blood Diamond, will be the first of three City Kickboxing fighters to take the octagon along with Carlos Ulberg and Israel Adesanya. Diamond comes into his debut at UFC 271 with an undefeated 3-0 record with wins by knockout, submission, and decision. Across from him will be Jeremiah Wells who will be making his second UFC appearance after a TKO win over Warlley Alves in June 2021. Wells is currently 9-2-1 and on a three-fight win streak.

Prediction

If you have a name as cool as Blood Diamond you must have something to back it up especially if you train with two UFC champions, featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. I have Diamond winning by decision.

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