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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender Darren Till nearly defeated former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker in the UFC on ESPN 14 main event last weekend in Abu Dhabi, but ultimately came up short on the judges’ scorecards.
That’s a pretty impressive feat when you consider “The Gorilla” — now relegated to a cast — tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in the second round of their 25-minute affair. But don’t take my word for it, just ask his attending physicians.
“Torn MCL, doctors are amazed he was able to stand up for the last three rounds,” Till’s coach Colin Heron told ESPN. “He is in a cast for six weeks then we’ll reassess, hopefully it will start to knit while immobilized.”
Till, 27, moves to 1-1 in the middleweight division, having previously captured a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum last November in New York. Depending on his recovery timetable, we may not see “The Gorilla” make his Octagon return until first quarter 2020.
When the former welterweight does make his way back to the cage, he’s likely to be paired off against fellow middleweight hopeful Jack Hermansson, much to the chagrin of “The Joker.” Until then, we have plenty of other fights at 185 pounds to keep us busy.