The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will conduct one final event at the Yas Island aka Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday before moving back to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, U.S., for future PPVs.
The Fight Island was used by the promotion to facilitate the participation of non-U.S. competitors due to the travel ban in the States and on 26 July, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will face Darren Till in the main event clash.
Whittaker, the #1 contender in the division, lost to current titleholder Israel Adesanya in his previous MMA bout during October 2019. Till, on the other hand, made a triumphant return to the middleweight division from the welterweight category by beating Kelvin Gastelum in November last year. So he will be very confident heading into this encounter.
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The winner of this fight is most probably next in line for a title shot, considering Till is ranked #6 as well. With Adesanya set to take on #2 Paulo Costa at UFC 253 in September, Whittaker will be eager to either get a rematch with the champ or at least bag another opportunity to challenge for the belt in the future. But with Till at the opposite end at the moment, he has to stay focused on the present.
Rua vs Nogueira
The co-main event will feature another former champion Mauricio Rua and his long-time rival Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a light heavyweight bout. This fight will conclude the trilogy between the two fighters, who fought against each other for the first time in Japan during June 2005.
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Rua had beaten Antonio the previous two times, both by unanimous decision and in three rounds. This will be the latter’s last contest in UFC according to his prevailing contract with the company. Their other clash was in August 2015, more than 10 years after the first one.
Werdum vs Gustafsson
Another high-profile encounter in UAE on Sunday will pit former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, who is currently #14 in the division, against Alexander Gustafsson, a former top light heavyweight contender in UFC who retired in June last year and now makes a return to the promotion via the heavyweight division.
In a women’s strawweight contest, #7-ranked Carla Esparza will face off against #9 Marina Rodriguez. The winner of this bout will take a step closer to a potential title shot. Meanwhile, Alex Oliveira and Peter Sobotta will be involved in one of the two welterweight clashes of the main card.
- The event will be telecast live on 26 July, Sunday, in India.
- It is taking place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- The event’s main card will begin at 5:30 am IST (26 July).
- You can watch the bouts live on Sony TEN 2 and Sony TEN 3 in India.
- Sony LIV will provide live online streaming for the event.
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