Robert Whittaker one of the ex-champs to win at UFC on ESPN
It was a great night for former UFC champions on Fight Island.
All four competing on Sunday morning’s UFC on ESPN 14 card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, emerged with victories, including ex-middleweight champ Robert Whittaker’s unanimous-decision victory over Darren Till in the main event.
Till dropped Whittaker with an elbow in the first round, but Whittaker was able to settle in and rally to take control of the next two in a strategic kickboxing battle.
“That fight was so stressful,” said Whittaker, who was in action for the first time since losing his belt in October. “I hope the fans and everyone can appreciate it because that was one of the most technical fights I’ve ever had. We were both feinting and knew each other’s strengths so well.
“I blitzed him in the first round and he caught me, so I didn’t do that again.”
The fourth and fifth rounds were extremely tight, with Till winning the fourth and tying the fight on two scorecards. Whittaker used his championship experience to win the final round on both of those cards, sealing the deal by getting Till to the ground twice in the final minute.
“I had to really adapt on the go,” Whittaker said. “It was such a dynamic fight. The takedowns got me across the line at the end of the day.”
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua improved to 3-0 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira with a split-decision victory in the co-main event.
The former light heavyweight champion scored unanimous-decision wins over Nogueira in 2005 and 2015.
Nogueira, 44, had hoped to finally turn the tables in the final fight of his career.
“I went three times with the legend,” Rua said. “I’m the happiest man in the world today. Every fight has been a war, but I was happy to win one more time.”
Rua secured a takedown with a minute remaining in the third round and ended the fight in top position to help earn the favor of two of the judges after a chaotic 15 minutes that closely resembled their first two meetings.
Former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum rudely welcomed Alexander Gustafsson to the division, picking up his first win since 2017 when he locked in an armbar midway through the first round.
Werdum lost his only fight in 2018 and then served a suspension for violating the anti-doping policy before losing a split-decision to Aleksei Oleinik in his May return.
He was able to rebound by relentlessly pursuing a takedown despite Gustafsson’s best efforts to fight it off. Once it hit the mat, the jiu-jitsu world champion took control and got his hand raised in the last fight on his UFC contract.
“I want to thank everyone that supported me and helped me during my career and here at UFC,” the 42-year-old said. “I leave the company happy and a bit emotional. Everything that we trained happened in the fight. It was awesome.
“I’m not sure what I’m gonna do or where I’ll go.”
Gustafsson ended his brief retirement for the bout and moved up a weight class after going 0-3 in title fights at light heavyweight.
Former women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza moved closer to a chance at reclaiming her belt by handing Marina Rodriguez the first loss of her career.
Esparza took the split decision to capture her fourth straight win.
It was the last of four events on Yas Island. The UFC will return to Las Vegas for live events each Saturday for at least the next five weeks.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.