{"id":116394,"date":"2019-10-05T01:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=116394"},"modified":"2019-10-04T11:05:02","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T18:05:02","slug":"ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 243: Whittaker, Adesanya Square Off for Middleweight Title in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya will meet in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday to determine the undisputed UFC middleweight champion in the main event of UFC 243.<\/p>\n

\"FC
Robert Whittaker and Israel Andesnya will fight for the unified UFC middleweight title in the main event of UFC 243. (Image: Zuffa\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bout is expected to be a competitive one, with DraftKings Sportsbook making Adesanya a slight -115 favorite over Whittaker (-106), suggesting a fight that could go either way.<\/p>\n

Local Flavor in UFC 243 Title Fight<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whittaker hails from Australia, while Adesanya is a Nigerian fighter who lives in New Zealand, meaning that there should be plenty of local support for both fighters. Whittaker is the current \u2013 but recently inactive \u2013 middleweight champion, with Adesanya holding the division\u2019s interim title.<\/a><\/p>\n

That means that this is an unusual unification bout for the UFC, one that pits a legendary middleweight champion against one of the fastest rising stars in the company.<\/p>\n

Whittaker (20-4) hasn\u2019t been able to fight much since earning the middleweight title in July 2017 against Yoel Romero, only fighting Romero in a rematch that wasn\u2019t technically for the title in June 2018. Whittaker was then expected to fight Kelvin Gastelum in Melborne at UFC 234, but had to pull out at the last minute due to internal injuries, including a collapsed bowl and a severe hernia.<\/p>\n

That means even though Whittaker has shown that he is one of the top MMA fighters in the world in two great bouts against Romero, he is relatively unheralded compared to many UFC champions because of his light schedule. That could make some underestimate his chances at UFC 243, something Whittaker believes would be a mistake.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t my first rodeo. I\u2019m very good at what I do,\u201d Whittaker told the Los Angeles Times<\/em>. \u201cEvery time I step in the Octagon, there are always fireworks. I want to go in there, touch gloves, put one on his chin, and he goes away.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adesanya (17-0) is one of the UFC\u2019s fastest-rising stars, however, and should be a true test for Whittaker. In just two years, he has gone from a relative unknown to the interim title holder, and now he is just one step away from becoming one of the few fighters ever to earn a UFC title without a loss.<\/p>\n

For Adesanya, this is not only a chance to establish a legacy, but to take MMA in the Oceanic region to a new level.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fight speaks a lot to the growth of the sport in this part of the world,\u201d Adesanya told Sports Illustrated<\/em>. \u201cLast time the UFC came out here, the card was stacked with overseas talent. But this time, we\u2019re stacking the card with our own. People are going to be shocked at how good this card is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooker, Iaquinta Star in Co-Main Event<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the co-main event, midweight contenders Dan Hooker (18-8) and Al Iaquinta<\/a> (14-5-1) face off in a fascinating matchup that may not have title ramifications, but should provide plenty of action for fans. Iaquinta (+130) is the more accomplished fighter, but Hooker (-162) is the favorite, and comes in having won five of his last six UFC fights.<\/p>\n

Hooker has never been one to have boring fights, and he plans on having another action-packed bout at UFC 243.<\/p>\n

Whether it be by submission or by knockout, my intention, without a doubt, is to get him out of there before the 15 minutes are up,\u201d Hooker told UFC.com. \u201cDoing so sends a very strong message to the top five, because he has done five rounds with Cowboy and he has done five rounds with the champ.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other fights on the UFC 243 card include a heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa (-400) and Sergey Spivak (+300), as well as a welterweight clash between Dhiego Lima (-150) and Luke Jumeau (+120).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya will meet in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday to determine the undisputed UFC middleweight champion in the main event of UFC 243. The bout is expected to be a competitive one, with DraftKings Sportsbook making Adesanya a slight -115 favorite over Whittaker (-106), suggesting a fight that could go either way. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":116395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUFC 243: Whittaker, Adesanya Square Off for Middleweight Title<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UFC 243 in Australia is headlined by a main event between middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and interim champion Israel Adesanya.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFC 243: Whittaker, Adesanya Square Off for Middleweight Title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UFC 243 in Australia is headlined by a main event between middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and interim champion Israel Adesanya.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-05T08:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-04T18:05:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Whittaker-Adesanya-UFC-243.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3072\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/\",\"name\":\"UFC 243: Whittaker, Adesanya Square Off for Middleweight Title\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Whittaker-Adesanya-UFC-243.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-05T08:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-04T18:05:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"UFC 243 in Australia is headlined by a main event between middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and interim champion Israel Adesanya.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-243-whittaker-adesanya-square-off-for-middleweight-title\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Whittaker-Adesanya-UFC-243.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Whittaker-Adesanya-UFC-243.jpg\",\"width\":3072,\"height\":2048,\"caption\":\"Robert Whittaker and Israel Andesnya will fight for the unified UFC middleweight title in the main event of UFC 243. 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