UFC 271 is in the books, and while the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker looked incredibly different, the victor is the same. It was a competitive and very technical affair between two high level MMA fighters, but Adesanya managed to control distance, defend takedowns and win more rounds. With the victory, it marks Adesanya’s fourth title defense of his middleweight crown.
Perhaps the show stealer too was Tai Tuivasa, who brutally knocked out Derrick Lewis and has completed an insane career resurgence. From three straight losses and being released, he now not only extended his KO streak to five, but also established himself as a true top contender in the division.
The rest of the card was entertaining too. Here we analyze the pros and cons of each of the key bouts, with a quick twitter thread that’s short and fitting for people’s social media era attention spans:
O’NEILL DECISIONS ROXY
PROS: Roxy lost, but it’s great that she was given proper mic time. Good gesture to send off a well loved pioneer in her retirement fight
CONS: That one judge. This would’ve been so much better w/o uniform deal limiting creativity https://t.co/NHe6q95aLl
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
GREEN PICKS APART HAQPARAST
CONS: Haqparast threw one shot at a time and couldn’t adjust, but that’s also because of Green
PROS: It was great to see Green get that kind of pop from the crowd. Slick defense, nice counters, volume. That was a boxing clinic https://t.co/5IKTAf3ijA
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
MOICANO CHOKES OUT HERNANDEZ
PROS: One flurry & Moicano was on him quick. Slick back take, RNC. His post fight interview was mostly good,except for..
CONS: Another fighter had to beg for money. Hernandez complained about “disrespect” on prelim placement, now lost on PPV instead
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
CANNONIER COMEBACK KOs BRUNSON
PROS: Brunson started out great, but gassed and Cannonier capitalized. Those elbows were nastyyy
CONS: Blonde Brunson is no longer undefeated. Late stoppage. Last few brutal elbows were so unnecessary, that we even saw the rare corner towel throw
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
TUIVASA ELBOW KOs LEWIS
PROS: Comeback! That elbow kept landing, & Tai eventually finished with it. Insane career resurgence. Tuivasa went from UFC release in 2020 to title contender w/ 5 KOs
CONS: Where’s the cuppy!? Also where do I categorize this lol https://t.co/GM5Nmq13Qp
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
ADESANYA DECISIONS WHITTAKER
PROS: Very high level, technical. Adesanya’s reads and distance are unreal, especially vs a guy like Rob. Nice takedowns, but Adesanya’s hip heists were on point
CONS: Whittaker was okay just clinching at the end, because he thought he had a lead?
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
#UFC271 OVERALL
PROS: Farewell Roxy! Very fun card. Back-to-back comeback KOs, and a high level chess match to end it. Tuivasa’s career resurgence.
CONS: Why’d they boo Adesanya? Texas Judging. Dr. Rogan was still misdiagnosing injuries during his “scheduling conflict” lol
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 13, 2022
And that’s about it. For more social media musings, follow me on twitter over at @antontabuena, and of course you should do that for Bloody Elbow’s official twitter account as well.
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