Israel Adesanya reached a new level of superstardom at UFC 243 in 2019 when he defeated Robert Whittaker to become the undisputed middleweight champion. Whittaker would like nothing more than to give Adesanya a receipt for that loss later tonight at UFC 271, which would allow him to take his place atop the fight world.
Adesanya (21–1) remains undefeated as a middleweight. He dominated his three title defenses after defeating Whittaker (23–5), who has also won his last three fights following the loss to Adesanya. A victory by Whittaker would set up a great trilogy, but Adesanya seeks to avoid that and instead continue running through the division.