UFC 271 - Israel Adesanya v Robert Whitaker

The Rematch - The Last Stylebender v Robert Whittaker

If you haven't yet watched #UFC271 then have a watch of this video which shows the whole main card at UFC 271, all 3 hours of it, from BitChute.com. 

If you just want to watch the headline fight between middleweights Israel Adesanya and Robert Whitaker then scroll to the time 2.15.00 on the video, to get to the start of the main event.

If you just want to watch the co-main event between heavyweights Derick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa then scroll to 1.47.00 to get to the start of that fight.

I am glad people are starting to put videos up on sites other than YouTube as they get taken down so quickly from that Google-owned streaming site, and for some reason, BT is not putting up the full fight as they used to, even a whole week later. So watch it whilst you can!

UFC 271 - Main Card

Israel Adesanya v Robert Whitaker (fight 2)

After Israel stole Robert's middleweight belt down under he had been on a roll in the UFC undefeated at this weight class. 

Izzy did try to go up a division and fight Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight. However, Israel didn't seem to put much weight on, what is a very thin-framed spindly body, and the heavier fighter won, giving Israel his first loss (20,1) in the UFC.

I thought that maybe this loss might have got into Israel's headspace, having never lost and thinking you are invincible, to only get beaten, it must come as a shock to the system, and who knows what effect it had on him.

It certainly got the attention of Jon Jones who called out Adesanya after the loss and shut down any talk of a fight between the two saying “Yeah never mind, that’s not even worth my time” on Twitter.

Israel Adesanya v Robert Whitaker - UFC 271

However, whatever effect the loss had on his state of mind, Israel Adesanya still managed to come out on top against rival Robert Whittaker at UFC 271. 

The duo fought out a tightly contested five-rounder at #UFC271 with the Last Stylebender securing a narrow win on points. 

Robert actually thought he had done enough to win and was obviously disappointed with the result, but to gain the crown he really had to do more than he did. 

He was the only one of the two who got knocked to the floor in round one, and he didn't manage to cut Israel's face up at all. In fact, quite amazingly Israel was still breathing through his nose and looking unfazed and undazed at the end of round 5.

One good thing though was to see the two congratulate each other and shake hands after the fight. Unlike their first battle, there was little bad mouthing in the run-up and Israel commended Robert on taking time out after his loss and training differently for their re-match, with Robert complimenting Israel as well for having the belt. There were no Conor McGregor like slurs in the build-up to this re-match, unlike their first fight.

Personally, I thought the fight was a bit boring, Israel was very composed, kept out of Robert's range, and managed to defend all of his take-down attempts. Israel kept Robert at bay with kicks and his longer reaching jab that got through Whitaker's guard multiple times. 

Robert did attempt a number of take-down attempts but Israel managed to defend them all successfully and there seemed no danger of him getting caught up in some sort of BJJ trap on the floor.

To be honest, compared to their first fight it was a bit of a letdown and it went the whole way, all 5 rounds, and Israel won narrowly on points.

Israel Adesanya v Robert Whitaker - Fight Highlights

You can watch the official highlights below if you don't want to watch the full fight on the video at the top of the page. If you do, scroll to the time 2.15.00 to get to the start of their fight.

BT used to put up the full fight after a week on YouTube, but now all you get are the highlights or someones phone's video from the back of the arena. Why they have changed this I have no idea, but trust me the highlights are all you need to see as there wasn't much exciting action in the bits they don't show.

Derrick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa UFC 271

The co-main event was a heavyweight battle between Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa and to me, this was a much more exciting fight to watch.

There is just something about two heavyweights, belly's out, kicking, and windmilling toe to toe that gives it that edge. With the chance of KO at any time when two men of this size go punch for punch as if boozy Brits outside a pub at closing time.

It was a shock result for me, as I had money on a double for Derick and Israel to both win, but during one tussle Tai managed to elbow Derick in the head and the force was so much it put him to the floor, the ref stepped in and that was game over, shock for the crowd but it was a real slugfest and great to watch.

Full Fight - Derick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa UFC 271

I don't know how long this video will be up for as it's shot from the crowd but it shows you the full fight. So if you want more than the official highlights have a watch. Or watch the main video at the top of the page for the whole card. If you want just the Derick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa fight then scroll to 1.47.00 in that video.

However if this video is taken down, which I fully expect these days, then you can watch the official highlights below from BT. Hopefully, they will get back to putting the full fight up online after a week. If they do I will replace it.

I hope you manage to enjoy the fight from one of these videos, and please let me know in the comments what you thought of the headline event between Israel Adesanya v Robert Whitaker, as well as the Derick Lewis v Tai Tuivasa fight. 

So many questions to be answered which you can answer in the comments section.

Will Robert Whitaker ever get to re-gain his middleweight title from Israel Adesanya?

How long can Israel Adesanya go on in the middleweight division without a loss?

Also if The Last Stylebender does get bored with the division, will he want to go up to light heavyweight again?

One thing is for sure, if Izzy does get bored and wanted to go up to light heavyweight again he would surely need to eat a few pies and get some weight on that lean frame of his, otherwise, it will be Jan Blachowicz all over again.

Conor McGregor v Donald Cowboy Cerrone - UFC 246

Conor McGregor Defeats Donald Cowboy Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246

Like many UK MMA fans I stayed up all night to watch the main event at UFC 246 last weekend.

With the headline fight being fought around 5.30 AM UK time I didn't get to bed until 6am and with BT Sport changing their programming to charge PPV prices to customers.

I spoke to a woman at BT and asked her why they were now charging for UFC when up until now it had always been free to customers.

We are only going to charge for "Big Fights" she said over the phone. What constitutes a "Big Fight" to BT though?

The headline event at UFC was Conor McGregors comeback against Donald Cowboy Cerrone, and whilst it was a much anticipated event, it wasn't a title fight, and whilst the prelims were free to watch, the 4 fights on the main card weren't, and no belts were up to win.

So unlike many boxing events when UK TV channels only charge PPV for a title fight it seems BT might start charging for all future UFC events. If that is the case I might have to reconsider my BT Sport subscription as free UFC fights were one of the attractions for me to join BT, one of the good things about BT sport apart from their European Football and Premiership games.

I would have been pretty pissed off if I had paid considering the fight only lasted 40 seconds, and the other main fights weren't as good as some of the prelims, with the Holly Holms fight consisting of a really wound up Holly pacing the Octagon before and in-between rounds, then spending much of the fight against the fence in a clinch. Like the booing crowd I cannot be the only person who is upset at this change at BT Sports and I am pretty glad I used another free stream to show the main card to me.

Conor McGregor demolishes Donald Cowboy Cerrone

The main event whilst short was a spectacular quick destruction of the all time highest winner by head kicks, but unfortunately was over so quick, Cerrone didn't even get to throw a punch and only one kick. I was hoping the Cowboy would be able to provide a good stand up fight between two kick-boxers, a spectacle I find much more exciting to watch than a fight consisting of sparse stand up and full of BJJ. Although technical and complex finishes and locks are involved I just prefer stand up than floor fights.

The fight between Conor and Donald was so quick I think I can describe the 40 seconds from memory in-case the videos are taken down by YouTube.

Straight off in round 1 Conor ran out to meet Donald and threw a left hook that Donald ducked and they ended up in a clinch.

Conor then used a move I had never seen, neither it seems had Joe Rogan or the other commentators as he used the clinch to jump up and down repeatedly throwing his shoulder into Donald's nose, smashing it open.

They then broke apart and Donald threw a right kick to Conor's body before McGregor responded with his own left kick to the head of the Cowboy. 

As Donald fell back stunned, Conor followed up with a left knee to his head that pushed Cerrone to the fence and Conor jumped on him with a flurry of punches taking him to the floor, where he jumped on top of him and hammered his head with his fists before the fight was stopped.

The doctors rushed in and had to tend to the Cowboy after the hammering to his head smashed his face in by both Conor's shoulder, kick, knee and fists.

Watch Conor McGregor Full Fight against Donald Cowboy Cerrone

The original video of the fight from a crowd member got taken down but it doesn't matter as finally BT have put up a full fight video for us to watch. I guess they have realised anyone who wanted to watch the fight would have done so by now. Anyway this is the full fight from walk in

UFC 246 Highlights

If you just want to see the Conor v Cowboy highlights scroll to 4 minutes 29 seconds, not that you can really show just highlights from a 40 second event. The only thing missing is the violent finishing of Donald on the ground after Conors kick to his head.

The Big News

Although Conor had just delivered a complete perfect quick win over Donald who had to have the doctors attend him for a while after the stoppage, it seemed that the big news to McGregor was not the win but his new sized bottles of Whisky.

You can watch the post fight interview with Joe Rogan here.

The arrogance of the 31 year old is so complete, I cannot believe he used his interview with Joe Rogan to advertise his goods.  

"That's the big news", he actually said after talking about his Whisky.

Not the fact he had won fights at 3 weight levels, or the fact he had just won a fight in 40 seconds, or defeated the all time finisher by head kicks with a head kick, but his new Whisky bottles.

I wonder what Joe thought of that, if anyone knows please comment, as I thought it was just rude and disrespectful to his opponent to say that in his interview.

 

Holly Holms beats Raquel Pennington at UFC 246

The other main event on the card was the women's fight between Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington. I was expecting Rachel to do much better than she did against Holly and it seemed she ran out of ideas very quickly.

The original video was taken down and it seems there are loads of animated videos with cartoon like fighters in the ring replicating the moves on YouTube. Very odd to watch but I guess it's a way of getting round showing the real fight and being removed, however this video is the full fight with real people.

Holly Holms v Rachquel Pennington - Fight Highlights UFC 246

Post Fight Interview With Holly Holms and Joe Rogan

There was little stand up action and lots of clinches against the fence during the fight, which didn't really excite me or the crowd. I even heard boos at one point, and this was the co-headline event, another reason I am angry at BT Sports for charging PPV for non title belt fights.

Holly actually apologised in her post fight interview with Joe Rogan about the lack of stand up combat afterwards and said she was disappointed that she couldn't provide more action. You can watch her interview with Joe below.

Let me know what you thought of UFC 246, Conors 40 second win, his "big news" about his Whisky, BT Sports charging PPV for the main card, and anything else....

The Gypsy King v Deontay Wilder

The Gypsy King v Deontay Wilder Fight

This was one of the first BT BOX Office Sporting events they have shown which meant another £20 on top of your BT Sports subscription, normal BT broadband & TV plus the TV Licence AND let's not forget the adverts as well.

Are we getting too used to being ripped off at by our ISP's and TV content providers? 

I think so when the fighters are making tens of millions at the very least we could have expected a decision on the fight and not a draw. That's not what I paid my money for including a bet on Tyson Fury winning on points which I obviously lost.

However this is the new world of "sports entertainment" and I am just happy the UFC is still free for the moment on BT as we have seen some great clashes lately in MMA action.

For those of you who missed the fight, Fury was winning on points but he got knocked to the floor twice. Wilder must have a hard punch to say the least. However it was the last knock down in the final round that probably kept the belt with Wilder, and it was a UK judge who made the split decision.

The Gypsy King even had the cheek to put his hands behind his back on numerous occasions offering his face to the hardest hitting man in boxing at the moment.

You can check these hilarious highlights out below.

For those of you wanting a little bit more than the fun and games. You can watch the full official highlights of the most hyped boxing match since McGregor and Mayweatherboxing below.

Full highlights of the fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.