Israel Adesanya, after defeating Robert Whittaker in their first match.
Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 271 and the long awaited rematch between Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker is just hours away now.
These kind of fights don’t come along too often. Adesanya is the current UFC middleweight champ and one of the UFC’s few genuine stars. Whittaker is the clear number one contender and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. He’s also the former middleweight champ himself.
Both are head and shoulders above the rest of the division.
Adesanya is undefeated at middleweight. Whittaker has only ever lost once in the division to — guess who? Current champ Adesanya when the pair first fought back in October 2019 in front of a record 57,000 people in Melbourne, Australia.
This is genuinely a clash of the titans.
Who’s gonna win? The safe bet is Adesanya, who cleanly knocked out Whittaker in their last outing not once, but twice. Whittaker was saved by the bell the first time, but was clocked by the exact same shot the next round and lost the fight.
But Whittaker has improved since then, implementing a more savvy, GSP-esque mix of wrestling and striking into his game. He’s gone on a serious run since their last fight, defeating world class contenders like Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum back-to-back. It’s been seriously impressive, particularly his last bout with Gastelum.
Whittaker has also claimed his head wasn’t right going into the last fight with Adesanya. A mix of hometown pressure and dislike of Adesanya had Whittaker fighting out of character in the first fight, swinging for the fences instead of being smarter with his strikes. Either way, this fight is going to be a contest fought at the highest level. Can’t wait.
UFC 271 Start time
The UFC 271 main card starts at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT) on Nov. 6. Here are all the details from multiple time zones.
US
- The main card starts Feb. 12, 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT).
- The prelims start Feb. 12, 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT).
- The early prelims start Feb. 12, 6 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. PDT).
UK
- The main card starts Feb. 13, 3 a.m. GMT.
- The prelims start Feb. 13, 1 a.m. GMT.
- The early prelims start Feb. 12, 11 p.m. GMT
Australia
- The main card starts Feb. 13, 2 p.m AEDT.
- The prelims start Feb. 13, 12 p.m. AEDT.
- The early prelims start Feb. 13, 10 a.m. AEDT
How to watch UFC 271
The UFC now has a partnership with ESPN. That’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, but bad news for consumer choice. Especially, if you’re one of the UFC fans who want to watch UFC in the US.
In the US, if you want to know how to watch UFC 271, you’ll only find the fight night on PPV through ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options to watch UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s site:
- Existing yearly ESPN Plus subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $75
- New ESPN Plus subscribers can buy a bundle of one UFC PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN Plus annual recurring subscription for $100. This is a decent deal. The ESPN Plus annual ESPN subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN Plus annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.
You can do all of the above at the link below.
MMA fans in the UK can watch UFC 271 exclusively through BT Sport. There are more options if you live in Australia. You can watch UFC 271 through Main Event on Foxtel. You can also watch on the UFC website or using its app. You can even order using your PlayStation or using the UFC app on your Xbox.
Need more international viewing options? Try a VPN to change your IP address to access those US, UK or Australian options listed above. See the best VPNs currently recommended by CNET editors.
Full fight card
As always, this card is subject to change. We’ll endeavour to keep this as up-to-date as possible.
Main card
- Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker
- Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Jared Cannonier vs. Derek Brunson
- Alexander Hernandez vs. Renato Moicano
- Bobby Green vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Prelims
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Jared Vanderaa
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Casey O’Neill
- Kyler Phillips vs. Marcelo Rojo
- Carlos Ulberg vs. Fabio Cherant
Early prelims
- Mana Martinez vs. Ronnie Lawrence
- AJ Dobson vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov
- Jeremiah Wells vs. Mike Diamond
- William Knight vs. Maxim Grishin
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