Robert Whittaker made a strong start in his first fight at middleweight at UFC Fight Night 55 with a second round TKO victory in a competitive fight with Clint Hester who tastes defeat for the first time in the Octagon.
Round One:
Hester catches Whittaker off-balance with a punch almost immediately. Hester pushing forward and lands a big punch that gives Whittaker pause for thought. However, Whittaker fires back and connects hard with a strike of his own.
Hester stumbles forward off-balance. Whittaker with a nice punch. Hester lands a spinning elbow to the head, but Whittaker takes it well. Whittaker starting to let his kicks go now – one to the leg and then to the body.
KIcks from Whittaker and then a punch drops Hester. Hester trying to get back up, but Whittaker stays on him and keeps the pressure on. Whittaker up against the cage works back to standing. Whittaker goes in on takedown and stays patient waiting for the right moment before completing it.
He starts working from Hester’s half guard. Not much offense from Whittaker, but he does stop Hester from getting back to the mat. Whittaker moves to mount, but Hester then powers out and ends on top landing a few blows before getting pushed off as the round comes to a close.
Round Two
Cautious start to the second from both men. They exchange low kicks. Then Whittaker starts to let his hands fly and backs up Hester. Now Hester is pushing forward and launching very big strikes, throwing his weight into them.
He continues to pressure Whittaker and lands a a couple of hard punches and a knee to the midsection.
Whittaker working the jab, but Hester presses through and clinches up against the cage. Hester trying for a takedown, but Whittaker stays upright.
This fight is ebbing and flowing as Whittaker now gets back on the offensive and a flurry of punches must have made an impact on Hester as he backs up in a defensive shell. Whittaker follows and throws a knee to the head that lands cleanly and slumps his opponent to the mat.
Whittaker rains down blows as Hester tries to shield himself from the storm, and that’s it, a very nice TKO win for Whittaker here at 2.43mins of the second round.
