The UFC middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum may have been called off, but Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva produced an entertaining bout as a replacement. Check out our live event recap.
10 February 2019
ADESANYA WINS IT
The judges all scored the fight for the young gun, with scores of 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 in favor of the Nigerian-born Kiwi star.
The two fighters showed huge respect for each other after the fight, and Adesanya told the Melbourne crowd that facing the Brazilian was like playing basketball against Michael Jordan.
As for Silva, he fancies one more fight in his home town of Curitiba, Brazil.
Coincidentally, that's exactly where the UFC will go on May 11 for UFC 237...
THEY GO THE DISTANCE
After a thrilling final round that saw both men produce some spectacular striking skills, the fight goes all the way to the judges' scorecards.
Adesanya appeared to have the upper hand through most of that final round, and that should be enough to secure him the win.
We had him winning all three rounds, but it's possible some may have given that super-close second round to Silva.
The judges' scores are up next...
SILVA'S STILL GOT IT!
The Brazilian legend needed a better round in the second frame, and he produced it as he put the pressure on Adesanya in Round 2.
Adesanya might just have shaded it on the strike count, but that was a much tougher match to score.
Theoretically, this fight could be level heading into the third and final round.
GREAT FIRST ROUND!
Adesanya dominated most of the opening round, dictating the pace and landing strikes on Silva.
But the Brazilian showed some skills of his own as the round wore on, and by the end of the round the crowd were absolutely loving it as both men were showcasing their spectacular striking skills.
Adesanya is ahead on the cards, but Silva is definitely in this fight.
HERE WE GO!
It's time for the new main event of the evening.
Of course, it was supposed to feature Robert Whittaker defending his UFC middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum, but after Whittaker's health scare earlier today, that fight is off.
Instead, the originally-scheduled co-main event is now our headliner, and as substitute fights go, this one is a cracker.
Former UFC middleweight world champion and one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the octagon, Anderson 'The Spider' Silva is back to make one final run at world championship gold, and he's set to face undefeated kickboxing phenom Israel Adesanya with the prize of a title shot up for grabs for the winner.
PURE DOMINANCE BY VANNATA
After seeing two of his last three fights go to a draw, Lando Vannata was in no mood to let tonight's fight go to the judges.
The American totally dominated Brazilian debutant Marcos Mariano, both on the feed and on the ground before eventually submitting his opponent with five seconds remaining in the opening round.
After his win, Vannata respectfully asked for a fight with fellow lightweight veteran Jim Miller later this summer.
That would be an excellent matchup.
IT'S CO-MAIN EVENT TIME...
The lightweight contest between 'Groovy' Lando Vannata and Marcos Mariano has been bumped up the card to fill the co-main slot.
Vannata always brings an exciting fighting style to the octagon, while Brazilian debutant Mariano arrives with each of his last three wins coming inside the opening round.
It's not the level of fight we were hoping for at the sharp end of the card, but it might just be one of the most exciting clashes of the night.
SIMON STARS IN BANTAMWEIGHT CLASH
American Ricky Simon put on a superb performance to defeat Brazilian veteran Rani Yahya by unanimous decision after a high-octane display over all three rounds of an exciting bantamweight bout.
Simon dropped Yahya twice and kept the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace at bay to secure a landslide verdict on the scorecards, polling scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-25 from the three octagonside judges.
DE LA ROSA DOMINATES
Women's flyweight contender Montana De La Rosa continued her successful run since her time on The Ultimate Fighter with a second-round armbar submission victory over Australia's Nadia Kassem in their main card bout.
De La Rosa's win gave her the 10th win of her MMA career, and her eighth victory by way of submission.
She likes the armbar, too. Tonight's win was the fifth win using that technique, and the third armbar finish in her last four fights.
HUGE WIN FOR JIMMY CRUTE
Rising Australian light-heavyweight star Jimmy Crute kicks off the main card of UFC 234 with a huge victory, as he finishes the always-durable Sam Alvey via first-round TKO.
Crute dropped Alvey with a huge right hand and then walked off, assuming the fight was over.
However, it wasn't, and the Aussie had to get back to work and shrug off a takedown from the wobbly-legged American before finishing him with ground strikes.
The usually happy-go-lucky Alvey was livid at the stoppage by referee Marc Goddard, but after being badly rocked and cracked with a succession of ground strikes, the American didn't do enough in the official's eyes to get out of trouble and the fight was waved off.
Take nothing away from Crute, however. He fully deserved his win and will move on to bigger and better things. He's a very exciting prospect and could become something of a star in the UFC's light-heavyweight division in the years to come.
'DC' BREAKS DOWN THE MAIN EVENT
UFC heavyweight champion of the world and fight analyst Daniel 'DC' Cormier offers his take on the fight between Adesanya and Silva as two of the best strikers in MMA go head to head in tonight's main event.
'KING KAGE' SCORES CLINICAL KO
Devonte Smith produced yet another first-round knockout to further build his growing reputation in the UFC.
A succession of slick, sharp strikes first rocked, then knocked out, Dong Hyun Ma inside the opening round as the American followed up his 46-second KO win from his UFC debut with another super-fast finish in Melbourne.
It took him a little longer tonight, but his first-round KO in three minutes, 51 seconds was one of the most impressive performances of the night so far.
FINAL PRELIM IS UNDERWAY...
The final bout on our preliminary card is now off and underway, as Colorado native Devonte Smith takes on South Korea's Dong Hyun Ma.
Here's a little fun fact for you, Ma was actually known as Dong Hyun Kim, but opted to change his moniker to avoid confusion with another South Korean fighter of the same name who also plies his trade in the UFC.
ALL-ACTION SCRAP GOES THE DISTANCE
The featherweight battle between Shane Young and Austin Arnett turned into a three-round crowd-pleaser that went all the way to the judges' scorecards.
Young dominated most of the striking exchanges during the bout and even dropped Arnett with the very last punch of the contest.
And when the scorecards were read, all three judges saw it the same, as they gave Young all three rounds for a unanimous decision victory.
COMING UP NEXT...
Featherweights are set for action in Melbourne as Auckland, New Zealand's 'Sugar' Shane Young takes on American Austin Arnett at 145lbs.
GASTELUM SAYS HE IS THE REAL CHAMP
Kelvin Gastelum speaks backstage as he arrives with a championship belt over his shoulder and says that he should now be considered the world champion as a result.
THE SCORES ARE IN...
29-28 Paiva
29-28 Kara-France
29-28 Kara-France
The crowd roars its approval as Kai Kara-France claimed a hard-earned split-decision victory over Raulian Paiva.
It's a big win, too, for the City Kickboxing team that also trains main event star Israel Adesanya.
Will the be celebrating again later tonight?
INTERESTING SCENES BACKSTAGE...
...as UFC middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum, who was due to challenge Robert Whittaker for the world title tonight, arrived at the Rod Laver Arena with a UFC world championship belt.
Currently, there is only one such belt in circulation, and that belongs to his friend, management stablemate and UFC flyweight world champion Henry Cejudo.
Gastelum is suggesting he should be the champion having made weight and made it to fight night, saying Whittaker effectively forfeited the title by pulling out injured.
That's almost certainly not going to work, but it's an interesting take.
FAST FLYWEIGHTS SET TO FACE OFF
Kiwi Kai Kara-France is nicknamed 'Don't Blink', and he'll be looking to register the most impressive victory of his career on home soil when he faces off against Brazilian debutant Raulian Paiva.
But don't let Paiva's debutant status fool you. He has a record of 18-1, and has built a reputation for grinding out victories over the full three-round duration.
Kara-France prefers the shorter route to success, with nine KOs from his 18 career wins.
They're up next at UFC 234.
WILD STRIKES, TIGHT SUBMISSION
They call Kyung Ho Kang 'Mr Perfect' and while his performance wasn't quite perfection, it was certainly extremely entertaining.
The South Korean star engaged in a wild back-and-forth striking battle with Teruto Ishihara before eventually taking the fight to the canvas and locking up a rear-naked choke for the first-round finish.
That was a lot of fun, and a great way to kick off the preliminary card in Melbourne.
LET'S GET THE ACTION UNDERWAY...
Our first televised preliminary bout of the night is off and underway, as South Korean Kyung Ho Kang takes on Japan's Teruto Ishihara in a featherweight contest.
Kyung went into the bout as the betting favorite, but Ishihara has the ability to produce finishes out of nowhere, so this one should be a fun bout to start the night.
TEARS AT THE WEIGH-IN
There was emotion by the bucketload at the weigh-ins as Silva and Adesanya choked back the tears as they addressed the Melbourne crowd ahead of their huge middleweight fight.
With tears in his eyes, Silva said: "Thank you, guys. I worked my entire life for this sport and I tried to do my best.
"I need to say thank you God for giving me one more time a great opportunity to give a great show for you guys.
"Thank you Australia, thank you Dana [White, UFC president]. Thank you so much."
The emotions found their way across the stage to the usually super-confident Adesanya, too, who tried to joke his tears away as he took his turn on the microphone.
"He's trying to make me cry! F**k him!" he laughed.
"Melbourne, what's up! Big shout out to everyone who paid [and] came through to from everywhere around the world to watch this show.
"And a special shoutout - he's trying to make me cry, for real! - to everyone from Auckland, that came through. I appreciate you."
Then, after recomposing himself, Adesanya turned his attention to the task at hand, as he looks to defeat the UFC legend and propel himself into a world title fight later in the year.
And despite his coach labeling the Brazilian veteran "The Lance Armstrong of MMA" earlier in the week, Adesanya couldn't help himself from a final word of respect for Silva, who he vowed to send into retirement "in a nice way."
"Look, I'm a fan of this man, but just because I'm a fan, it doesn't mean he can't catch these hands! And elbows! And feet! And knees!" he said as the crowd roared their approval.
"We're going to throw everything in the cage. We're gonna have fun, alright? I'll send him off in a nice way. Let's go!"
A LEGEND RETURNS
The man standing between Adesanya and a title shot also has eyes for the UFC middleweight belt. And he has more reason than most to want to get his hands on the title - it used to be his property for seven years between 2006 and 2013.
Back then, Silva was the greatest world champion in UFC history as he dispatched opponents in spectacular fashion and produced performances that led many to label him as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
After losing his title, then suffering an horrific broken leg in the world title rematch, Silva became embroiled in anti-doping issues as he looked to mount a career comeback.
Now back in the fold once again, and with a win in his latest outing, Silva has the opportunity to halt the charge of an exciting young contender and earn himself a shot at the title he once called his own.
Does 'The Spider' still have it? We'll find out tonight.
THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG STAR FACES HIS BIGGEST TEST
With Whittaker vs Gastelum off the card the middleweight division's brightest rising star will take center stage as he bids to book his spot in a title fight with victory over one of the sport's biggest legends.
Kiwi kickboxer Israel 'The Last Stylebender' Adesanya has looked the real deal ever since swapping the ring for the octagon, and his recent knockout win over contender Derek Brunson cemented his position as a legitimate contender for the title.
And on Sunday morning in Melbourne Adesanya will look to claim the biggest scalp of his career when he faces the greatest middleweight champion in UFC history, Brazilian legend Anderson 'The Spider' Silva.
He's confident, he's cocky and he's incredibly talented. But can he slay a legend at UFC 234? If he can, he'll get a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
YOUR NEW-LOOK FIGHT CARD
DRAMA BEFORE THE FIGHTS
We've had late drama ahead of today's event, with the news that the main event bout for the UFC middleweight title is OFF.
The defending champion, Australia's Robert Whittaker, woke up with stomach pains and was diagnosed with a hernia, which has forced him out of his title fight with Kelvin Gastelum.
It means the new main event will be the hotly-anticipated middleweight title eliminator between former world champion Anderson Silva and undefeated kickboxing ace Israel Adesanya.
09 February 2019
WELCOME TO FIGHT NIGHT!
Welcome to RT Sport's live coverage of UFC 234, which comes live from the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
We'll bring you live updates throughout the night's action.