UFC 271

UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States.^[2]

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 Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Hill

Background

A UFC Middleweight Championship rematch between then champion Israel Adesanya and former champion Robert Whittaker (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) served as the event's headliner.^[3] The pairing met previously in October 2019 at UFC 243, when then interim champion Adesanya knocked out Whittaker in the second round to unify the middleweight title.^[4]

A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Alex Perez and Matt 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 and UFC 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 between Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson was scheduled for UFC 270.^[11] However, the pairing was moved to this event due to undisclosed reasons.^[12]

2016 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling Mark Madsen and Vinc Pichel were expected to meet in a lightweight bout.^[13] However, they were pushed back to UFC 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 by Jeremiah Wells.^[16]

A light heavyweight bout between Maxim Grishin and Ed Herman was scheduled for this event.^[17] However in late January, Herman withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by William 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]

Results

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

1. For the UFC Middleweight Championship.

^[21]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[22]

• Fight of the Night: Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov
• Performance of the Night: Tai Tuivasa and Jared Cannonier

See also

• Martial Arts portal

• List of UFC events
• List of current UFC fighters
• 2022 in UFC