Robert Whittaker fights on Saturday for the first time since losing his UFC middleweight championship in October, taking on former welterweight Darren Till in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
It is the fourth and final event in the UFC’s two-week run on Yas Island, which the promotion has dubbed “Fight Island.”
Whittaker (20-5) lost his belt to Israel Adesanya, ending a nine-fight winning streak dating back to 2014. He is No. 2 in ESPN’s middleweight rankings.
The sixth-ranked Till (18-2-1) moved up from 170 pounds in November and defeated Kelvin Gastelum, who seven months earlier had competed for an interim 185-pound title.
The fights are on ESPN and ESPN+, with the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET and the prelims at 5 p.m.
There are also former champions in the three fights preceding the headliner. Ex-light heavyweight titlist Mauricio Rua faces fellow veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-main event. Fabricio Werdum, a former heavyweight champ, welcomes longtime 205-pounder Alexander Gustafsson to the division. And Carla Esparza, the UFC’s inaugural strawweight champion, takes on Marina Rodriguez.
How to watch the fights:
Watch the fights on ESPN: Download the ESPN App | WatchESPN | TV
Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access.
Watch the fights on ESPN+. If you don’t have ESPN+, get it here.
There’s also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday’s fight schedule
ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET
Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till | Middleweight
Mauricio Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Light heavyweight
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Gustafsson | Heavyweight
Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez | Strawweight
Paul Craig vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov | Light heavyweight
Alex Oliveira vs. Peter Sobotta | Welterweight
ESPN/ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert | Lightweight
Nicolas Dalby vs. Jesse Ronson | Welterweight
Tom Aspinall vs. Jake Collier | Heavyweight
Movsar Evloev vs. Mike Grundy | Men’s featherweight
Tanner Boser vs. Raphael Pessoa | Heavyweight
Bethe Correia vs. Pannie Kianzad | Women’s bantamweight
Ramazan Emeev vs. Niklas Stolze | Welterweight
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Rhys McKee | Welterweight
Nathaniel Wood vs. John Castaneda | Men’s bantamweight
Top stories
Robert Whittaker headed for UFC’s Fight Island
Refreshed Robert Whittaker ready to start climb back to the top