Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Live, blow-by-blow updates for today’s UFC Fight Island 3 event on ESPN and ESPN+, which features a middleweight tilt on top.
Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and full play-by-play as UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till goes down on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
The headliner comes in the middleweight division, with former champ Robert Whittaker facing off with Darren Till. The co-main will see two legends collide for the third and final time, with Shogun Rua taking on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. And in a heavyweight battle, Fabricio Werdum will fight out his contract when he meets former 205-pound title challenger Alexander Gustafsson.
This is an ESPN show and is kicking off slightly earlier than usual. The eight-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at 5pm ET/2pm PT. There will be a stream on ESPN+ as well. The seven-fight main card will kick off at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ESPN and ESPN+.
Yeah. There are 15 fights.
Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till
Round 1 – Till charges in with offense right away but eats a jab. Jab again from Whittaker. Low kick from Bobby Knuckles. They charge in at the same time and Whittaker got dropped! I don’t think it was from a strike though. He’s back up right away. Apparently it was, an elbow. Till with a hard straight left. They clinch up. Knee to the body from Whittaker. Till sticks him with the left on the break, and a lands a body kick. Outside low kicks from both men. Whittaker scores with a lead right and a jab. Nice counter right too. Straight right and another low kick from the former champ. 10-9 Till.
Round 2 – Whittaker jumps in with a right. Huge counter left from Whittaker as Till advances. Low kicks from both men, and then Whittaker cracks him with a left. Two low kicks from Till. Overhand right from The Reaper drops Till! Whittaker jumps into his guard and Till tries to lock him down. He gets some separation and cracks till. Pass to half and big elbow! Till tries to power out but he’s not going anywhere. He gives up his back, and manages to get up. Low kick from Whittaker. Till fakes a shot. Low kick again from Whittaker. Lots of feinting now. Till with a straight left. Head kick from Till is blocked. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 3 – Low kick from Whittaker. Till throws an uppercut. Head kick is blocked. Whittaker with a lead right hook. He misses with two big shots. Low kick. They both miss on head kicks. Jab from Whittaker. Another. Till wades in with a left. Whittaker with a knee and a left hook. He misses with another head kicks. Low kick from Whittaker. Whittaker shoots a single, but gives it up nearly immediately. Low kick from Whittaker. They trade lefts. Body kick from Till. Till looked for an elbow as Whittaker shot another single. Till fought it off. Whittaker wades in with a big shot and just misses. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 4 – Till misses with a head kick. Nice lead left from Till. Slow pace here. Low kick from Whittaker. Another. Till with a leg kick. Till with an elbow and lands two big punches! Whittaker eats them and doesn’t back off. Low kick from Whittaker. They just collide in the middle of the Octagon as they both throw at the same time, Whittaker fakes a shot. Nice right over the top from Whittaker. Straight left from Till. They battle in a phone booth for a few seconds. Till with the left again as Whittaker looks for a single-leg takedown. Nothing there. Right from Whittaker. 10-9 Till.
Round 5 – Whittaker rips the body. Whittaker looks to wrestle but can’t get anywhere. Till with a nice left. Low kick from Whittaker. Nice 1-2 from Till. Low kick from from The Reaper again. Whittaker dives in on a single, gives it up, and lands a left over the top. Till with his own left. Till with a counter left. Another. Low kick from Whittaker. Again. 75 seconds left. Whittaker again shoots and lands a shot. Still anyone’s fight. Front kick from Whittaker. Hard elbow from Till. He’s cut. Low kick from Whittaker. He scoops a single and throws Till down, but he’s up right away. And back down. And back up. Knee to the belly from Whittaker. Wow this will be tough to score. 10-9 and 48-47 Till.
Robert Whittaker defeated Darren Till bia unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Mauricio Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Round 1 – Shogun takes the center. Inside leg kick from Rua. Slow start otherwise though. Another inside leg kick. Shogun wades in with a few punches and they clinch. Knees to the thigh from Shogun and they separate. Straight left from Lil Nog. Body kick from Shogun is blocked. Calf kick from Shogun. Shogun with a right hook. Shogun gets on his bike, trying to get Nog to engage. And he does with another nice straight left. They exchange big shots. Lil Nog with another left that stuns Shogun! They’re brawling now! Shogun gets tagged again and shoots for a takedown! He gets it. 10-9 Nogueira.
Round 2 – Shogun presses his opponent against the cage, but Nog gets separation fast. Low kick from Shogun. Body kicks. Nogueira clips him with the left again, but Shogun fires back. Nogueira takes him down with a straight football shoulder tackle. Haven’t seen that in a while. Nog goes body/head with methodical GnP. Shogun pulls his legs out and gets up with two minutes to go. Shogun shoots but is stuffed by Lil Nog. Shogun with a big counter right hook and an inside leg kick. Lead left from Shogun, and a right. Body kick. Nog fires back with his left. Another left left hook. Close round. 10-9 Nogueira.
Round 3 – Huge inside leg kick from Shogun. Another. Lead left from Rua. Counter right from Nogueira. Nogueira with the left but he was a little wobbly for some reason. Lead left from Nogueira. Body kick from Shogun. Shogun with a right hook and a body kick again. Nogueira with a deceptively fast lead left hook. Another. Shogun countered that time. Beautiful counter left from Shogun staggers Nogueira. Shogun drags Lil Nog to the mat. One minute left. Big lefts from Shogun as he postures up. Nogueira looking to sweep but eats some hammerfists. 10-9 Shogun, but 29-28 Nogueira.
Mauricio Rua defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Fabricio Werdum
Round 1 – Gustafsson wades in with a double jab. Low kick from Werdum. Gus is light on his feet so far. Another low kick from Werdum though. Gustafsson cracks him to the body. Werdum s hoots and tries to drag Gustafsson down. Gus lands some hammerfists but Werdum perseveres and gets full back mount! He immediately sets up an armbar. Gus is in danger but defending so far. Werdum rolls over and he’s ripping on the grip, trying to get it loose. He does! Gus taps to the armbar! Wow!
Fabricio Werdum defeated Alexander Gustafsson via submission (armbar), 2:30 of round 1
Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez
Round 1 – Rodriguez with a lead right hook. Esparza ducks under, scoops a single, and puts Rodriguez on her back. Very nice. She’s working in Marina’s full guard. Hard body shots from the former champ. Heel kicks from Rodriguez. Esparza with a couple of hard elbows that draw some blood. Rodriguez uses her long legs to dump Esparza over to the cage and jump on top. She lands some big shots. Esparza tries to scramble and they get back up. Esparza eats a big right hook. Esparza gets back to her wrestling, but gets dumped over at the horn. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round 2 – Slow start here. Rodriguez with the lead right, twice in a row. Esparza has a goose egg over her left eye. Rodriguez with a low kick. Esparza shoots a double and gets a takedown, but is almost reversed. She manages to stay on top but Rodriguez looks for a triangle. Nothing there. Esparza opens up with a few punches but she’s trying to defend. Carla backs out and jumps back in. Body shots from Esparza. Rodriguez trying to use an active guard and she dumps Esparza off, but she jumps back on before she’s able to get up. Elbows from Esparza. She drops for a leg lock but eats some hard punches. Rodriguez flurries on top and Esparza is a bloody mess. Esparza lands a blatantly illegal kick from her back but the ref misses it. 10-9 Esparza but Rodriguez may have stolen that.
Round 3 – Rodriguez with a low kick. Rodriguez is pressing but not landing. Esparza drags her down to the her knees and lands some nice punches against the cage. Espariza dives in and gets another takedown. Rodriguez frames up a triangle but it’s not at the right angle. Esparza is landing enough to keep the position. That was a good one. Lots of blood. Esparza pulls back and lands a kick to the legs and another kick that looked illegal as Rodriguez came up. Another takedown. 10-9 and 29-28 Esparza for me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the other way.
Carla Esparza defeated Marina Rodriguez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Paul Craig vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Round 1 – Antigulov gets a quick takedown. Craig is looking or a triangle from the bottom. Antigulov lands some hard body shots, but Craig is keeping the triangle on. He turns it sideways and gets the tap! Wow!
Paul Craig defeated Gadzimurad Antigulov via submission (triangle choke), 2:06 of round 1
Alex Oliveira vs. Peter Sobotta
Round 1 – Oliveira with a hard body kick. Sobotta cracks him back with the same kick. Front kick from Cowboy. Another, and Sobotta felt that. He backed off right away. He’s taking time to reset, and just landed a brutal body kick of his own. Jab from Sobotta. Body kick again from Cowboy, and a front kick. Sobotta wades in a with a combo but doesn’t land. Head kick and another body kick from Oliveira. Sobotta with a low kick. 10-9 Oliveira.
Round 2 – Jumping switch kick from Oliveira. Sobotta shoots in but Oliveira defends the takedown attempt. Elbows inside and they separate. Oliveira rips the body again with a kick. Another nice shot. Front kick. Another, but that appears to have landed to the cup. Cornuts cam confirms. Pretty quick restart. A lot of feinting but not much happening. Cowboy lands a kick to the body again. Sobotta lands a jab. Eye poke from Oliveira now. Extended break that time. Oliveira with a light leg kick. Sobotta kicks low. Sobotta got countered and dropped with a straight right at the horn! 10-9 Oliveira.
Round 3 – Body kick from Sobotta. Snap kick from Oliveira spins Sobotta around. Sobotta gets in on a single, but Oliveira defends. Sobotta eats a few kicks to the legs on his back before he gets up. Front kick to the body from Oliveira. They both swing and miss. Low kick from Oliveira. They trade rights. Oliveira misses with two lead rights. Front kick from Sobotta now. Straight left. Hard body kick from Cowboy again. They trade rights. 10-9 and 30-27 Oliveira on my card.
Alex Oliveira defeated Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Rhys McKee
Round 1 – Chimeav shoots immediately, and gets McKee down. He has him all wrapped up on the ground. He’s looking for a choke but gets to mount nad lands some big punches. McKee tries to bridge but can’t get away. Big hammerfists from Chimeav. He seemed to sink a choke but gave it up. Huge elbows and more punches. McKee is defending but he’s being worked over. More GnP from mount. The ref has to step in. This is a scary, scary man.
Khamzat Chimaev defeated Rhys McKee via TKO (strikes), 3:09 of round 1
Preliminary Card (5 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+)
Francisco Trinaldo defeated Jai Herbert via TKO (strikes), 1:30 of round 3
Jesse Ronson def. Nicolas Dalby via submission (RNC) at 2:48 of Round 1
Tom Aspinall def. Jake Collier via TKO at 0:45 of Round 1
Movsar Evloev def. Mike Grundy via unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
Tanner Boser def. Raphael Pessoa via TKO at 2:36 of Round 2
Pannie Kianzad def. Bethe Correia via unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
Ramazan Emeev def. Niklas Stolze via unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
Nathaniel Wood def. John Castaneda via unanimous decision (30-27×3)