UFC 271 press conference LIVE: Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker speak ahead of fight

UFC president Dana White is out first, before heavyweights Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis make their way to the stage ahead of this weekend’s co-main event.

A big hometown reaction for Lewis.

The press conference is set to begin any moment now!

Here’s everything you need to know about this weekend’s event, including when it starts, how to watch, and which fights are taking place:

Ahead of the main event of UFC 271, Adesanya told The Independent about his coach’s tendency to ‘troll’ followers of the sport – especially fans of Whittaker.

“Eugene [Bareman] likes to troll with all these f*****g fans, so it’s fun to watch,” Adesanya said.

“He literally goes in the gym group chat... Someone will send him a screenshot of a comment and he’ll go like: ‘Watch this.’ Then he’ll go on some interview and start to troll the fans because he enjoys it, and it’s fun for us, the anarchy.

“He loves watching them squirm, like: ‘Ooh, Whittaker, [pretends to cry].’”

Whittaker has conceded that burnout and pressure were ingredients in the cocktail of mental hindrances that left him appearing out of sorts and fighting out of character on the October night he lost to Adesanya in 2019, when the “Last Stylebender” picked the 31-year-old apart to take his title with a second-round TKO victory.

“I haven’t heard too much about it, but yeah, good on him for being open and vulnerable,” Adesanya told The Independent, in a rare moment of empathy for his rival, whom he has mocked for the best part of three years.

“That’s what makes you strong: being vulnerable,” Adesanya continued. “I know this because I do this all the time, I’m super vulnerable with my emotions – on-camera, off-camera.

“So yeah, good on him for bringing that to the forefront. It’s the first step, I guess, in getting over it or learning how to deal with it and manage it. Accepting it and sharing it kind of gives other people permission to do the same.”

More here:

The Independent conducted an exclusive interview with Adesanya this month. When asked what he has been honing ahead of UFC 271, the middleweight champion joked: “Wouldn’t you like to know?

“I’m just having fun learning. I’ve always been that kid when I came in this game where people used to say, ‘He’s special, he’s special,’ a lot about me.

“I kind of shunned it, I shied away from it, even though I learned very fast and was able to learn something today and apply it tomorrow. I’m just tapping back into that and accepting it. I am that guy, I am that kid who has that gift to replicate what he sees really quickly.

“I have the blueprint and I’ve been beating everyone with my old blueprint, but this is art, this game. Personally it’s... Last year was a bit boring for me, so I want to refresh my art. I’m doing just that.”

Full interview here:

UFC 271 takes place in Houston, Texas this Saturday, with the headline bout seeing middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defend the belt against Robert Whittaker in a rematch, more than two years after the current title holder dethroned the Australian.

Adesanya has antagonised Whittaker at every opportunity – both before their first fight and in the build-up to this weekend’s clash – and tonight the rivals will go face-to-face for the first time since their initial in-ring meeting. On that evening in October 2019, Nigerian-born New Zealander Adesanya knocked out Whittaker on the then-champion’s home soil in Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. The seismic bout ended in the second round, with a UFC record crowd of more than 57,000 in attendance.

The pair will main event again this Saturday, with the co-main event featuring Whittaker’s compatriot Tai Tuivasa in an important heavyweight match-up against former title challenger Derrick Lewis. All four fighters will speak at a press conference tonight, as will other competitors featuring at UFC 271 – including middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier, with the winner of their bout potentially next in line for the winner of Saturday’s main event.