Whittaker edges out Till in UFC main event

Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker defeated Darren Till via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in the UFC Fight Night main event on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Till started strong and dropped Whittaker with an elbow in the first round. The Liverpool native found his range and outstruck the former titleholder from the outside.

The headlining fight was competitive after the opening frame, but Whittaker did the better work.

Whittaker stunned Till in the second with a right hand, but the underdog survived and continued to attack with his own offense. "The Reaper" ultimately had the sharper punching and picked Till apart in the later rounds. He also mixed in a couple of takedowns and landed a few solid shots on the ground to keep his opponent thinking.

The bout likely could've gone either way, but the judges believed Whittaker did just enough to earn his first victory since June 2018.

Whittaker entered the fight coming off a devastating knockout loss to Israel Adesanya last October. Adesanya won the 185-pound title - which Whittaker held for nearly two years - with the victory.

Till's loss Saturday was his first in the weight class. The 27-year-old moved up from welterweight in 2019 and beat Kelvin Gastelum via split decision in his divisional debut.

The former 170-pound title challenger is now 1-3 in his past four outings.