UFC Fight Island 3: Robert Whittaker beats Darren Till at final event in Abu Dhabi
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'We both won' - Darren Till on 'great fight' with Rob Whittaker
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker claimed a unanimous decision victory over British contender Darren Till in the final event of UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
Australian Whittaker, 29, who lost the UFC's 185lb title to Nigerian-born New Zealander Israel Adesanya in October, stepped away from the sport to recuperate, complaining of burnout.
He returned after nine months to outpoint Till over five tight, tactical rounds and put himself back into the UFC middleweight title conversation.
Fight Island - the brainchild of UFC president Dana White - was developed in a bid to continue hosting mixed martial arts events during the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 100 fighters flew to Abu Dhabi's Yas Island for four events between 11 and 25 July, and they have faced strict safety protocols since arriving.
"It was one of the toughest fights I've been in," said Till about his second fight since moving up to middleweight. "It was so mentally stressful, such a chess match. It was a close fight against a former champion. I'm up there."
Northern Irishman Rhys McKee lost on his UFC debut, but there were early victories for Scottish light heavyweight Paul Craig and British heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall.
Whittaker's second-round knockout loss to Adesanya at UFC 243 last year was his only defeat as a middleweight, and he produced a composed, controlled performance to defeat Till with scores of 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 and improve his record to 21 wins, five losses.
Till dropped Whittaker with a perfectly timed short elbow in the first round, but Whittaker returned the favour in round two with a big right hand.
In a fight of fine margins, it was Whittaker's superior striking output that saw him edge the fight on the scorecards.
Whittaker told ESPN the fight "was so stressful". He said: "Honestly, I hope the fans and everybody can appreciate it. Because that level for me, that was one of the most technical fights I've ever had."
What about the rest of the Britons?
Earlier in the night, Scottish light-heavyweight Craig produced one of the most impressive finishes of the night as he finished Russian submission specialist Gadzhimurad Antigulov in the first round using his go-to submission move.
Antigulov headed into the fight with 15 of his 20 wins coming by way of submission, but it was Coatbridge's Craig whose jiu-jitsu skills proved decisive as he locked up a triangle choke off his back to force the tap and register the 13th win of his career, and his 12th by submission.
It was a tougher evening for debuting Northern Irishman McKee, who lost out to Swedish hot prospect Khamzat Chimaev in their welterweight bout.
McKee received the short-notice call to make his UFC debut last week, with his manager Graham Boylan sharing on social media the emotional moment when he surprised the 24-year-old with the news.
But McKee's first UFC appearance ended in defeat as he was quickly taken down and finished with ground and pound in the first round by Chimaev.
Chimaev scored his second win on UFC Fight Island in the space of 10 days to set a new record for the shortest time between modern-era UFC victories.
It was a better night for another of the night's debutants, however, as British heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall scored an eye-catching TKO finish of American Jake Collier.
A thumping knee to the body, followed by quickfire two-punch combination, sent Collier crashing to the mat as 27-year-old Aspinall, a former sparring partner for Tyson Fury, took just 45 seconds to register a spectacular victory - the fourth-fastest win for a heavyweight debutant in the UFC's modern era.
Till v Whittaker: 'Every ounce of energy, soul and spirit' has gone into this fight