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By The Numbers: Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker


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The past and present of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division will come together to determine its future when Israel Adesanya puts his undisputed title on the line in a UFC 271 rematch with former champion Robert Whittaker on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston.

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Adesanya dethroned Whittaker with a sensational second-round knockout two-plus years ago and emerged as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound greats. The City Kickboxing star last competed at UFC 263, where he retained his championship with a five-round unanimous decision over divisional upstart Marvin Vettori on June 12. Whittaker, meanwhile, enters the cage on the strength of three consecutive victories. “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” winner last appeared on April 17, when he outpointed Kelvin Gastelum to a unanimous decision in their UFC on ESPN 22 headliner.

As Adesanya and Whittaker prepare to pen the second chapter of their rivalry, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

32: Years of age for Adesanya, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, on July 22, 1989.

15: Adesanya wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 71% of his career total (21). His list of UFC victims: Whittaker, Paulo Costa, Derek Brunson and Rob Wilkinson. Adesanya owns six other wins by decision, four of the five-round variety.

11: Knockdowns landed by Adesanya as a UFC middleweight, placing him third on the organization’s all-time list at 185 pounds. Only Anderson Silva (13) and Nate Marquardt (12) have been credited with more.

5: Countries in which Adesanya has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 6-1 in the United States, 5-0 in Australia, 5-0 in China, 4-0 in New Zealand and 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates.

860: Days spent by Adesanya as undisputed UFC middleweight champion. It ranks as the third-longest reign in the history of the division behind the aforementioned Silva (2,457) and Chris Weidman (889).

31: Years of age for Whittaker, who was born on Dec. 20, 1990 in Auckland, New Zealand.

9: Whittaker victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 39% of his career total (23). His list of UFC victims: Brunson, Ronaldo Souza, Brad Tavares, Clint Hester and Colton Smith. Whittaker holds five other victories by submission and nine more by decision.

132: Significant strikes by which Whittaker has outlanded the opposition during his current three-fight winning streak. He has connected on 298 such strikes while absorbing only 156 in return against Gastelum, Jared Cannonier and Darren Till.

400,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Whittaker across his 17 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” five times and “Performance of the Night” on three occasions.

.669: Cumulative winning percentage between the five men—Adesanya, Stephen Thompson, Court McGee, Jesse Juarez and Hoon Kim—who have defeated Whittaker. They boast a combined record of 91-42-3.

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