UFC 234: Israel Adesanya Out Guns Anderson Silva

Israel Adesanya was a big favorite to defeat Anderson Silva tonight at UFC 234, but “The Last Style Bender” needed the judge’s scorecards to get by the legend.

Both men were hesitant to begin the round, but eventually, they began to open up with strikes. Adesanya appeared to land more often in the opening frame, but he never appeared to have Silva in any serious trouble.

Not long into round two, Adesanya came with a flurry that Silva elected to keep his hands down for. Not long after, Silva landed a couple of punches from in close. Both middleweights came with plenty of feints and strikes throughout the remainder of the round, but Silva appeared to score with more.

Moments into round three, Silva took a strike to his right eye that quickly prompted it to swell up. After that, the action stalled as both men feinted and taunted, before Adesanya proceed to pick up the pace. Late in the frame, Silva once again let Adesanya land with his arms down, but for the most part, he failed to counter the rising star.

After the final horn, Adesanya was awarded the decision win.

Here are the results from UFC 234, which took place in Melbourne, Australia.

Israel Adesanya def. Anderson Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Lando Vannata def. Marcos Rosa Mariano via submission (kimura) R1, 4:55
Ricky Simon def. Rani Yahya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
Montana De La Rosa def. Nadia Kassem via submission (armbar) R2, 2:37
Jimmy Crute def. Sam Alvey via TKO (punches) R1, 2:49
Devonte Smith def. Dong Hyun Ma via TKO (punches) R2, 3:53
Shane Young def. Austin Arnett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kai Kara-France def. Raulian Paiva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Kyung Ho Kang def. Teruto Ishihara via. technical submission (rear-naked-choke) R1, 3:59
Jalin Turner def. Callan Potter via KO (punches) – R1, 0:53
Jonathan Martinez def. Wuliji Buren via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)