Till: Whittaker’s Striking Not On My Level

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Darren Till is a mere 1-0 at middleweight and is already convinced he’s a better striker than former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker. Sure, “The Gorilla” has scored just one knockout over the last five years — a span of eight fights — but his power has been restored after abandoning his brutal cut down to welterweight.

“I think Rob is potentially, probably more of a seasoned wrestler, a little bit better in that department,” Till (18-2-1) told MMA Junkie. “Jiu-jitsu wise, I don’t know. Striking wise he ain’t even close to [my] level, but I’m saying that and he could come in and show me something new and, ‘boom, boom,’ and that’s how it is.”

Prior to getting stopped by Israel Adesanya at the UFC 243 pay-per-view (PPV) event last October, Whittaker (20-5) had the striking chops to survive stand-up wars against the likes of Yoel Romero and Uriah Hall, among others, and has yet to see anything overly-impressive from Till.

“His biggest threat is his left hand and he knows that as well,” Whittaker said during the UFC on ESPN 14 media day. “That’s where I think I match up so much better against him than he does with me because my biggest threat is too many of them. I have so many dangerous shots, I’m so creative. I have so many angles I can exploit. He’s got his left hand. That’s all he’s got. Everything else I got covered.”

Whittaker and Till collide in the UFC on ESPN 14 middleweight main event this Sat. night (July 25, 2020) on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. The winner is expected to join a very short list of 185-pound title contenders for 2021.

To see the rest of the UFC on ESPN 14 fight card and line up click here.