Key takeaways
Israel Adesanya beat Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision after five rounds in the main event of UFC 271 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Robert Whittaker had come in as the division's No. 10. In the co-main event, Tai Tuivasa beat Derrick Lewis, the division's No. 11, by knockout at 1:40 of round two.
Across the 14 bouts that produced a result, two ended by knockout, four by submission and eight on the judges' scorecards — six stoppages in 14 fights. Two of the eight decisions divided the judges.
The quickest finish belonged to Jeremiah Wells, who stopped Blood Diamond at 4:38 of round one, and one of the six finishes came inside the opening round. The longest was Kyler Phillips's submission of Marcelo Rojo, 11 minutes and 48 seconds in. End to end, the 14 fights filled two hours and 57 minutes of cage time.
The main card finished at the higher rate: three of five, against three of the nine below it. Kyler Phillips (submission, round three), Douglas Silva de Andrade (submission, round two) and Jeremiah Wells (submission, round one) all closed before the judges were needed.
Seven ranked fighters appeared, and three of them were in the top two bouts, among them champion Carlos Ulberg.
