Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya Headlines UFC 243

A middleweight title unification bout will headline UFC 243 as UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker is going to be taking on UFC Interim Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya.

Whittaker (20-4-0) is going to be making the second defense of his championship, last defending it against Yoel Romero at UFC 225. Whittaker is also going to be competing for the first time in over a year, as the aforementioned UFC 225 event took place in June of last year. Whittaker will also enter the bout riding a nine fight winning streak and that streak has already lasted over five years.

Adesanya (17-0-0) became the interim middleweight champion at UFC 236, when he defeated Kelvin Gastelum by way of unanimous decision. Adesanya has previously headlined two events for the UFC, defeating former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Brad Tavares in those encounters. Adesanya has picked up seventeen wins as a professional MMA fighter and thirteen of those victories came by way of KO/TKO.

UFC 243 takes place on Saturday, October 5 from the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Australia with Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya headlining. Fightful is going to be providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.