Coach claims Robert Whittaker wanted to delay surgery, fight injured

According to UFC stats, Adesanya outlanded Silva in total strikes 65-34.

Adesanya, of Nigeria, refused to fall into Silva's traps.

"When I walked in, the first thing he said to me was "man, I'm so sorry". At one point, he planted his back against the fence and demanded Adesanya come and meet him.

Previously, UFC officials had stated the victor of the new main event between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva would be declared the No. 1 contender.

Silva eventually started charging forward more and more as time ticked away on the clock and that's when he managed to tag Adesanya with some stiff shots of his own.

Silva gave as good as he got in a 15-minute battle with unbeaten wunderkind Israel Adesanya that unexpectedly became the main event of UFC 234 Saturday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, when middleweight champion Rob Whittaker was forced to undergo emergency surgery in the middle of the night.

"This is like for a kid just to play, if I'm playing basketball, to play against Michael Jordan". It's out of their hands, you know, sometimes it's not in their control.

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Provided Robert Whittaker heals quickly, it sounds as though the UFC's intention is rebook his planned fight with Kelvin Gastelum - perhaps as soon as April.

Adesanya was expected to earn a title shot with a win at UFC 234 but now that may be put on hold with Gastelum still expected to get the next crack at Whittaker once he's healthy again.

Adesanya has been chasing a trans-Tasman fight with Whittaker and the Nigerian-born fighter was booed by the Australian crowd when he referenced Whittaker as "not turning up to work". In my world, the wrestling world, if the guy shows up and makes the weight, for some reason cancels the bout, the guy forfeits the match - I win.

When asked if the company would return to New Zealand either this year or in 2020, White said the success of the Kiwi athletes made the decision an easy one. This is my life.

On Saturday night, MMA Fighting reported that Ovince Saint Preux, who was scheduled to face Canadian Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas, has withdrawn from the bout due to an injury.

"I try to fight in Curitiba, my city".