On Saturday UFC Fight Night 101 played host to one of the most exciting main events of recent times as Robert Whittaker (17-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) finished Derek Brunson (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) inside the first five minutes. Whittaker has now notched together a six win streak after this stunning victory in Saturday’s headliner at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
It was Brunson who was the aggressor in this thrilling opening round throwing himself and everything he had at Whittaker leaving both his hands and chin extended which was inevitably his downfall. For the opening two minutes the American had the upper hand hunting down his opponent smothering him with a number of lunging strikes. Despite Brunson’s sloppy and uneducated initial two minutes there seemed to be method to his madness catching his opponent multiple times whilst looking to shoot for takedowns.
Whittaker handled the pressure well managing to shake any attempts of a takedown off and landing some strikes of his own which proved to be a pivotal point in the fight. After weathering an early storm from his opponent the Australian based New Zealand native had enough of running as he planted his feet and threw a huge left hook which stopped the oncoming Brunson in his tracks. Whittaker immediately capitalised on the opportunity throwing a series of vicious uppercuts before gathering himself for another onslaught.
As the crowd got off their feet the 25 year old let loose with another crushing combination a left hook followed by a right head kick had Brunson scrambling unable to protect himself from the next wave of attacks as he found himself on the matt.
The unanswered punches of Whittaker was enough for referee Herb Dean to intervene and call the fight at 4.07 of the very first round.
This victory has cemented Whittaker as a contender in the 185 lbs division who looks to be one win away from a title shot after six consecutive victories since losing to Stephen Thompson at UFC 170 back in 2014.
Post-fight Whittaker spoke about his next move ““I’m ready for those top five contenders. I’m ready for my run now.”
