UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till | ||||
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Information | ||||
Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
Date | July 26, 2020 | |||
Venue | du Forum | |||
City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
Attendance | None ( behind closed doors) [1] | |||
Event chronology | ||||
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UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till (also known as UFC on ESPN 14 and UFC Fight Island 3) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. [2]
This event was the fourth and final UFC Fight Island event that took place on Yas Island, following UFC 251, UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige and UFC 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 former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Darren Till served as the event headliner. [3]
The event also included fighters that were pulled from other events previously cancelled, as well as the following bouts:
A welterweight bout between Ramazan Emeev and Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to take place at the event. However, Rakhmonov was forced to withdraw due to injury on July 2 and replaced by Niklas Stolze. [12] [13]
Umar Nurmagomedov was expected to face Nathaniel Wood in a bantamweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 3 after his uncle, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov (also the father of former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov), died from complications related to COVID-19. [14] He was replaced by promotional newcomer John Castañeda. [15]
A women's strawweight bout between former Invicta FC and UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez was scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige nine days earlier. However, a Rodriguez cornerman tested 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. [16] They were rescheduled for this event. [17]
Justin Tafa was expected to face Raphael Pessoa in a heavyweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 15 due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Tanner Boser. [18]
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 opponent Jai Herbert. [19]
Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
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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. [22]
The event's 15 bouts tied UFC 2 for the most on a single card in UFC history. [23]
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). [24]
On November 18, it was announced by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that Jesse Ronson was suspended for 20 months after he tested positive for metandienone 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. [20]