UFC fans woke to the shock news that Middleweight champion and Australian product Robert Whittaker had withdrawn from his title fight with Kelvin Gastelum at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena today due to a hernia.
If there could be one positive to come from this disappointment it was that arguably the most exciting fighter on the card, Israel Adesanya, would meet childhood hero and UFC legend Anderson Silva in what would now be the main event.
Adesanya’s unique kickboxing style shone through and saw him out strike and out score score his opponent in all three rounds.
The judges unanimously awarded the fight to the New Zealand based Adesanya with scored of 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.
Adesanya always seemed to be in control of the fight, using his reach advantage to land consistent punches to the head of Silva.
His spinning head kicks always loomed dangerous but Silva displayed great defensive skills to avoid them.
The victory extends Adesanya’s record to 16-0 and confirms the hype around his title aspirations.
It should be assumed that Kelvin Gastelum will be given his shot at Whittaker, an interesting sub plot to the card was Gastelum watching in the front row with a belt over his shoulder.
It is believed it was a replica belt that could be purchased by fans at Rod Laver Arena. When interviewed Gastelum claimed that the Whittakers withdrawal on the day of the fight was a forfeit.
This view is not shared within the rules of the UFC and many believe this was a stunt to guarantee he would get his shot rather than Whittaker’s next defence being against Adesanya if he was to win.
