UFC will host its fourth and final night of fighting from “Fight Island” — also known as Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates. The Flash Forum will once again be the setting for UFC on ESPN 14, and once again the fights will take place starting at 2:00 am local time (for the preliminary card) and 5:00 am local time (for the main card), to keep things in prime time for United States viewers. The main event is a tilt between former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker, and Darren Till, formerly a UFC Welterweight Championship challenger. The co-headliner will pit Mauricio Rua against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a light heavyweight bout. We have the whole fight card for you as well as thoughts about some of the key fights, at the same time, start thinking about UFC odds for each of the UFC on ESPN event.
UFC on ESPN 14: Whittaker vs Till Preview (July 25)
UFC Main Card ESPN / ESPN+ |
|
| 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 | Women’s Strawweight |
| Paul Craig vs Gadzhimurad Antigulov | Light Heavyweight |
| Alex Oliveira vs Peter Sobotta | Welterweight |
| Khamzat Chimaev vs Rhys McKee | Welterweight |
| Nathaniel Wood vs John Castaneda | Bantamweight |
UFC Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+) |
|
| Francisco Trinaldo vs Jai Herbert | Lightweight |
| Nicolas Dalby vs Jesse Ronson | Welterweight |
| Tom Aspinall vs Jake Collier | Heavyweight |
| Movsar Evloev vs Mike Grundy | Featherweight |
| Tanner Boser vs Raphael Pessoa | Heavyweight |
| Bethe Correia vs Pannie Kianzad | Women’s Bantamweight |
| Ramazan Emeev vs Niklas Stolze | Welterweight |
| Nathaniel Wood vs John Castaneda | Bantamweight |
Robert Whittaker (20-5, -115) vs Darren Till (18-2-1, -105) should be a jim dandy of a fight. Robert Whittaker, who at one point looked like the most exciting UFC middleweight pugilist, has now somewhat sunk into the background. When he moved from welterweight to middleweight, he started with a pair of knockout wins, and then he beat Derek Brunson easily in his first headliner. He took Ronaldo Souza apart and then grabbed the interim title by demolishing Yoel Romero. He defended the title successfully, albeit in a fairly unspectacular manner, until Israel Adesanya stopped him in the second round of their title fight. A win would put Whittaker back int the title conversation, while a loss would leave him reeling.
Darren Till also has some questions to answer. He knocked out Wendell Oliveira in his UFC debut, but then he had a bizarre draw against Nicolas Dalby. He was winning the fight easily until the third round when he dislocated his shoulder and lost the round. He missed all of 2016 before coming back to beat Jessin Ayari and Bojan Velickovic, but neither fight was particularly impressive. After that, things seemed to go his way, as he lucked into a main event against Donald Cerrone, who he was able to back up and defeat with pressure. Till then beat Stephen Thompson on the cards. His challenge of Tyron Woodley for the title did not go well, though, and then he took a brutal knockout at the hands of Jorge Masvidal. His last fight, though, was a grinding win on the cards against Kelvin Gastelum.
Whittaker should win this, given his track record. Till fights a lot like Yoel Romero — whom Whittaker has beaten twice. So long as Whittaker keeps moving forward, he should be able to keep Till on his heels.
Final Prediction: Whittaker wins via decision
Mauricio Rua (26-11-1, -185) vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (23-9, +160) is the renewal of a rivalry that began back in 2005, when Rua and Nogueira tangled at the Pride Fighting Championships. They fought again at UFC 190, as both of them were winding down their careers — and now there is a trilogy fight, five years after that? UFC brought in Pride in 2007, and Rua was known as the top light heavyweight MMA fighter out there. He lost his UFC debut against Forrest Griffin, but he overcame some tough luck to take the UFC Light Heavyweight title. He would lose it to Jon Jones, but he kept an impressive profile. He did win the rematch against Nogueira, but he really has never returned to his earlier form. He likes to eat punches early and then fight back to get the win on the cards.
Nogueira has already said that he will retire after this fight. The closest he ever got to light heavyweight title contention in UFC was in 2013 after wins over Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans, but a convincing loss to Anthony Johnson ensured he would not get into the title talk. He has not fought much since then, although his hand speed remains impressive. He finished Patrick Cummins in the first round, and he punished Sam Alvey when they met in 2018. However, Ryan Bader and Ryan Spann exposed his shortcomings since then, so this is probably the right time for him to go. Rua has the slight edge in youth and agility.
Final Prediction:
Rua wins via decision
