UFC243 Whittaker vs Adesanya – everything you need to know

Main Card action will be available on Supersport 211 from 4am Sunday morning, 06 October. All the prelims are avaiable on UFC Fightpass

Australia vs New Zealand

This weekend’s main event sees an epic contest between New Zealand and Australia, as Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker face off for the UFC middleweight title.

Current champion Whittaker is on an eight-fight win streak and will look to continue his impressive run as he defends his belt against interim title holder Adesanya this weekend. The 28-year old’s last fight was against UFC legend Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC® 225.

A rising star in UFC, Adesanya is arguably one of the best strikers in the organisation and recorded victories over UFC veterans Kelvin Gastelum and Anderson Silva in his last two bouts. Adesanya believes he’s got his Australian opponent figured out, saying: “he’s a guy I can pick apart easily.” Known as the Last Style Bender, Israel will be representing both New Zealand and the country of his birth Nigeria this weekend in what promises to be a stunner.

Fearless Frenchwoman

French UFC® athlete Zarah Fairn Dos Santos will be welcomed to the promotion by featherweight Megan Anderson at UFC® 243. Fighting out of France, Dos Santos has not competed in MMA since 2017 but will look to mark her UFC debut with a statement victory over an experienced opponent.

Anderson, however, earned her first UFC win against Cat Zingano back in December last year and will be fighting in Australia for the first time since 2014.  She will be looking to extend her UFC win total to 2 come fight night and Dos Santos will have to be at her very best to defeat Anderson fighting on home soil.

Scandinavian Success

Stockholm native, Rostem Akman enters the Octagon® for the second time in his career at UFC® 243 where he takes on Australian Jake Matthews.  Currently holding a 6-1 professional MMA record, Akman has finished all of his career wins to date, with 5 coming via KO. “Kurdimus Prime”, who was born in Sweden with Kurdistan heritage, prides himself on his exciting fighting style.

His opponent Matthews, however, is also known for his finishing ability, with 11 of his 14 career wins coming via KO or submission.  Facing another of the card’s Australian natives, Akman will face a tough test against “The Celtic Kid” in his own backyard.

Main Card

Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker vs Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya

Al “Raging” Iaquinta vs. Dan “The Hangman” Hooker

Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa vs. Serghei “Polar Bear” Spivac

Luke “The Jedi” Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima

Justin Tafa vs. Yorgan “The Mad Titan” De Castro

Prelims

Jake “The Celtic Kid” Matthews vs. Rostem Akman

Callan “The Rockstar” Potter vs. Maki Pitolo

Brad Riddell  vs.Jamie Mullarkey

Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos

Early Prelims

Nadia Kassem vs. Ji “Firefist” Yeon Kim

Khalid “The Warrior” Taha vs. Bruno Silva