UFC 271 preview: Will it be repeat or revenge in Houston?

The Brit Pack MMA Podcast

The UFC’s second pay-per-view event of 2022 features a battle between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC.

Reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and former champ Robert Whittaker have proved their worth inside the octagon with some memorable performances over the years, but Saturday night in Houston, Texas will see the pair meet for a second time in a rematch of the bout that saw Adesanya crowned UFC 185-pound king. Will we see a repeat of Adesanya’s virtuoso performance that night, or will Whittaker find something special to dethrone “The Last Stylebender?”

The main event is joined by a dynamite co-main matchup, as in-form Aussie slugger Tai Tuivasa steps up to face the knockout king of the UFC, former interim heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis. “The Black Beast” is fighting on home soil for the second time in three outings and, after losing out to Ciryl Gane in Houston in his last hometown appearance, you can bet he’ll be out to settle the score and put things right for his fans this time around.

The main card also features a pivotal bout in the middleweight division, as the third- and fourth-ranked 185-pound contenders face off for the right to be the next man in line to fight for the title. Jared Cannonier is one of the strongest fighters in the division, but he’ll face a Derek Brunson who has found some of the best form of his career over the last year or so. It’s a huge bout for the division.

On this week’s episode of The Brit Pack MMA Podcast, we run through each of the aforementioned bouts, offering our takes and discussing the various scenarios that could play out over the course of the evening, and beyond.

We also take a look back at UFC Fight Night 200 last weekend, as Sean Strickland defeated Jack Hermansson in a solid, if unspectacular, performance, and Kazakhstan’s Shavkat Rakhmonov extended his perfect professional record – and his 100 percent finish rate – with his 15th career win.

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