Robert Whittaker scores unanimous decision over Darren Till
UFC on ESPN 14 takes place Saturday, July 25 and is headlined by a middleweight bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and former welterweight title contender Darren Till.
The event takes place at the Flash Forum in Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
In the main event of the evening, #1 ranked middleweight, Robert Whittaker faces #5 ranked Darren Till.
Robert Whittaker enters the Fight Island contest against Darren Till looking to rebound off of his knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. The former middleweight champion attempts to get back into title contention tonight after 9 months off to reset, refocus, and take another run at UFC gold, starting with Darren Till.
Darren Till made a successful middleweight debut at UFC 244 against Kelvin Gastelum via split decision. In his second bout as a middleweight, the former welterweight standout is given no easy task as he faces the former middleweight champion in Whitaker to cap off the consecutive run of fights on Fight Island.
Here is how the middleweight main event between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till went down at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till, including round by round scoring. For full results, check them out here.
Round 1
The fighters touch gloves and Till looks like he’s going to commit but he’s met with a right hand from Whittaker. Till stalks Whittaker momentarily and slows his attacks. Some time passes and the fighters clash in the middle in the midst of them both unleashing a combination. Whittaker falls to the canvas and Till looks to follow up with more damage. Whittaker makes his way to his feet and gets back to action. Till continues with the aggression after a brief exchange. Tills head movement and feints are helping with his clean, crisp attacks. He presses Whitaker against the fence and looks to begin teeing off. The fighters exchange blocked head kicks as Till remains aggressive and Whitaker works the counterpunching. Whittaker begins piecing together his punches and kicks towards the end of the first round as Till is breathing heavily but inviting Whittaker in to exchange.
MyMMANews scores round 1 for Darren Till. 10-9
Round 2
Both fighters begin the round very active exchanging punches and kicks. Whittaker lands a clean punch but Till walks straight through it. Whittaker lands in overhand right that drops Till in his tracks and immediately pounces on Till for ground and pound. Till has Whitaker in his guard but Whittaker is staying active in the passing while hammering Till with a right hand. Whittaker passes to half guard and peppers the body of Till. Whitaker works his way to Till’s back, looking to put his hooks in but Till manages to escape and work his way back to his feet. The action slows with few shots thrown until Whittaker kicks it up, hammering Till with multiple leg kicks on the lead leg. Till is looking to regain some ground, pressing forward towards the end of the round but Whitaker returns fire. Till loads up on the left hand that is blocked and Whittaker finishes the round strong with some punches upstairs followed with a head kick attempt.
MyMMANews scores round 2 for Robert Whittaker. 10-9
Round 3
Whittaker immediately gets to work with the leg kicks. He follows with a straight right upstairs and Till counters with an uppercut. A brief pause in the action and Till is walking down Whitaker. The fighters exchange punches upstairs as Till is still stalking Whittaker. Whittaker blitzes forward with wide punches to the head but Till avoids all damage and tells Whittaker to bring it on. Whittaker attempts the head kick which narrowly misses as Till leans back with a matrix-style slip. Tills punches are starting to find their mark more consistently. However, Whitaker throws a missed head kick followed by some heavy punches that miss their mark as well. Whittaker changes levels for the takedown but doesn’t finish and looks for the hook upstairs on his way out. Some brief strikes are exchanged and Whitaker presses Till against the cage looking for the takedown. Till works his way off of the cage and regain center control. Whittaker blitzes forward again with another punch onslaught that misses its mark and Till counter strikes beautifully to end the round.
MyMMANews scores round 3 for Darren Till. 10-9
Round 4
The fighters waste no time getting back to action. Whittaker throws heavy punches upstairs. Till counters with a missed head kick and throws his own punch combinations. A brief pause in the action as both fighters are feeling each other out. Whittaker hammers two leg kicks. Till lands and inside elbow and unleashes a brutal punch combination landing several flush shots upstairs on Whittaker. Whitaker fakes the takedown down, throwing the overhand right but Till smoothly evade’s and gets to work from the outside picking his shots and utilizing the clinch for uppercuts. Whitaker looks to get the bout to the floor again pressing till to the fence but Till is able to stay on his feet and circle away as the two trade a few punches to close the fourth round.
MyMMANews scores round 4 for Robert Whittaker 10-9
Round 5
Both fighters hug to start the final round and swing for the fences early with heavy punches. Whittaker grabs a hold of the leg once again for the takedown but to no avail. Whittaker is staying more active on his punch attacks while Till is looking to counter from the outside but is taking the brunt end of the damage. Both fighters exchange kicks as Whittaker changes levels again, only to give up to go head-hunting upstairs with his punching. Till is looking to pick at Whitaker when he enters his range but the effort might be too little, too late. Whitaker follows up with some more thudding leg kicks as they’re starting to wear on Till. Whitaker looks to grab a leg and circles out again throwing a hook upstairs. Whittaker’s ear becomes a bloody mess and he gets Till to the ground momentarily. Till bounces back up and is taken right back down. Till works his way back up with Whittaker putting his weight on him, against the fence to close this middleweight main event.
MyMMANews scores round 5 for Robert Whittaker. 10-9
Official result. Robert Whittaker wins via unanimous decision.
(48/47)-(48/47)-(48/47)
