A potential middleweight title eliminator featuring Darren Till and Robert Whittaker is reportedly slated to headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Fight Island event this July.
Till, a former welterweight contender, made his middleweight debut in November 2019 and eked out a narrow win against Kelvin Gastelum.
Prior to this victory, he suffered back-to-back losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal respectively, which ended an impressive 5-0 start to his UFC career.
“I thought I was invincible. Coming off two losses to fight the bulldozer of this division,” the British fighter said in an interview after beating Gastelum at UFC 244.
“I proved a lot of doubters wrong. I want you to message me tonight, f*** you. I want to stay humble and cocky at the same time, so f*** all them doubters again.”
Now, the journey towards winning the middleweight title gets even tougher as ‘The Gorilla’ is expected to fight another beast of the 185-pound class on his next UFC outing.
https://twitter.com/mmagonewild/status/1266169566150848514
New Schedule
According to a recent report from Brazilian media outlet, Combate, the Nevada-based promotion is looking to rebook the middleweight clash for July 25, which falls on the timeline for Dana White’s Fight Island.
“UFC plans Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till for July 25, at Fight Island. Clash would be in August, but it is close to being anticipated to be the main event fight,” the report said.
Till vs Whittaker was originally scheduled to headline a fight night event in Dublin, Ireland but the global pandemic has forced the UFC to change its plans.
White’s Fight Island is set to host live fights for international mixed martial artists who are affected by the travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
UFC planeja Robert Whittaker x Darren Till para 25 de julho, na Ilha da Luta. Confronto seria em agosto, mas está perto de ser antecipado para ser a luta principal do evento. | combate | Globoesporte https://t.co/p3jnqHhP3b
— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) May 28, 2020
Crazy Rumors
Whittaker most recently lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya and was scheduled to return at UFC 248 but he needed to pull out due to personal reasons.
Ahead of a potential comeback, Whittaker recently spoke to The Daily Telegraph and explained the real reason behind his absence in the Octagon.
“I have no idea where that came from,” the former middleweight champ said of the rumors.
“During the break, I got off all social media to spend time with family, so it was my old man who actually contacted me, explaining there was this crazy rumor going around, and from there, it just got a life of its own.”
“But my kids were all fine. They are fine. It was me who had the issue.”
BREAKING: Darren Till (@darrentill2) and Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) have verbally agreed to face each other on July 25.
The winner will likely face the winner of Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa for the middleweight title.#UFC #MMA #FPMMA pic.twitter.com/g5t3t8qSsQ
— Front Page MMA (@FrontPageMMA) May 29, 2020
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Robert Whittaker and Darren till)