| UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 26, 2020 (2020-07-26) | |||
| Venue | du Forum | |||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till (also known asUFC on ESPN 14 andUFC Fight Island 3) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2020 at thedu Forum onYas Island,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[2]
This event was the fourth and final UFCFight Island event that took place on Yas Island, followingUFC 251,UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige andUFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2, as part of a plan to facilitate the hosting of events involving fighters impacted by U.S.travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
A middleweight bout between formerUFC Middleweight ChampionRobert Whittaker (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) and formerUFC Welterweight Championship challengerDarren Till served as the event headliner.[3] They were previously linked to an event inDublin, Ireland that was to take place in August 2020.[4]
The event also included fighters that were pulled from other events previously cancelled, as well as the following bouts:
A welterweight bout betweenRamazan Emeev andShavkat Rakhmonov was expected to take place at the event. However, Rakhmonov was forced to withdraw due to injury on July 2 and replaced byNiklas Stolze.[13][14]
Umar Nurmagomedov was expected to faceNathaniel Wood in a bantamweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 3 after his uncle,Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov (also the father of formerUFC Lightweight ChampionKhabib Nurmagomedov), died from complications related to COVID-19.[15] He was replaced by promotional newcomerJohn Castañeda.[16]
A women's strawweight bout between formerInvicta FC andUFC Women's Strawweight ChampionCarla Esparza andMarina Rodriguez was scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige nine days earlier. However, a Rodriguezcornermantested positive for COVID-19 and the bout was cancelled. Rodriguez had her test come back negative, but the bout was scrapped due to precautionary reasons.[17] They were rescheduled for this event.[18]
Justin Tafa was expected to faceRaphael Pessoa in a heavyweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 15 for unknown reasons and was replaced byTanner Boser.[19]
At the weigh-ins,Francisco Trinaldo weighed in at 160 pounds, four pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at a catchweight and he was fined 30% of his purse, which went to his opponentJai Herbert.[20]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Robert Whittaker | def. | Darren Till | Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Maurício Rua | def. | Antônio Rogério Nogueira | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Fabrício Werdum | def. | Alexander Gustafsson | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:30 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Carla Esparza | def. | Marina Rodriguez | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Paul Craig | def. | Gadzhimurad Antigulov | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 2:06 | |
| Welterweight | Alex Oliveira | def. | Peter Sobotta | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Khamzat Chimaev | def. | Rhys McKee | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:09 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Francisco Trinaldo | def. | Jai Herbert | TKO (punch) | 3 | 1:30 | |
| Welterweight | Jesse Ronson | vs. | Nicolas Dalby | No Contest (overturned) | 1 | 2:48 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Tom Aspinall | def. | Jake Collier | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:45 | |
| Featherweight | Movsar Evloev | def. | Mike Grundy | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Tanner Boser | def. | Raphael Pessoa | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:36 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Pannie Kianzad | def. | Bethe Correia | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Ramazan Emeev | def. | Niklas Stolze | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Nathaniel Wood | def. | John Castañeda | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[23]
The event's 15 bouts tiedUFC 2 for the most on a single card in UFC history.[24]UFC 259,UFC 283,UFC 286 andUFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs. Tybura later had fifteen bouts as well.
Khamzat Chimaev broke the record for quickest turnaround between UFC wins at 10 days (not including one-night-tournaments during the UFC's early days).[25]
On November 18, it was announced by theUnited States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) thatJesse Ronson was suspended for 20 months after he tested positive formetandienone in an out-of-competition test conducted on July 22 and didn't disclose his use of the substance in his onboarding documents prior to re-joining the UFC. His suspension is retroactive to the test failure, meaning he'll be cleared to compete on March 22, 2022. They also announced that Ronson's victory was overturned to a no contest due to the violation.[21]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
