Robert Whittaker vs Darren Till: What time does UFC Fight Island 3 main event start tonight?

Liverpool’s Till takes on Australian former middleweight champion

Liverpool’s Darren Till returns to the Octagon on Saturday night for a main-event clash against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker on Fight Island.

The bout is Till’s second at 185 lbs after his successful jump up from welterweight against Kelvin Gastelum, while his Australian opponent is looking to bounce back after dropping his belt to Israel Adesanya on home turf last time out.

UFC Fight Island 3, held on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, serves up a stacked card that also features Alexander Gustafsson’s heavyweight debut against former titleholder Fabricio Werdum.

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua is also in action as the former light heavyweight champion competes against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for the third time.

Elsewhere, Scotland’s Paul Craig takes on Gadzhimurad Antigulov, and former women’s strawweight champ Carla Esparza faces Marina Rodriguez. Here’s all you need to know about UFC Fight Island 3:

What time does it start?

The preliminary card will begin at 10pm BST on Saturday 25 July. The main card follows at 1am BST on Sunday morning, with the main event between Whittaker and Till expected to get under way around 3am BST.

How can I watch it?

UFC Fight Island 3 will air on BT Sport 2 in the UK and on ESPN+ in the US.

BT Sport subscribers can also stream the event live on the BT Sport website and app.

Liverpool’s Darren Till faces Robert Whittaker of Australia at UFC Fight Island (Getty Images)

Odds

Whittaker 8/11

Till 11/10

Prediction

The safe bet is probably Whittaker, who has more experience and more tools to win than Till.

That said, there are questions over Whittaker’s form and mentality after his defeat by Adesanya; ‘The Reaper’ didn’t look himself in that bout, which was his first in almost a year-and-a-half and ended via second-round TKO. The Aussie also later opened up on the burnout he had experienced before and after the fight.

Against someone with Till’s punching power, Whittaker must be fully focused and cannot afford to utilise the same linear, repetitive blitzes that cost him last time out. If the former champ is more patient and technical, which he can be, he should be able to pick apart the Liverpudlian.

Hesitantly, Indy Sport is predicting Whittaker via third-round TKO.

Robert Whittaker is looking to fight his way back to the middleweight title (EPA)

Full card

Main card

Robert Whittaker vs Darren Till (middleweight)

Mauricio Rua vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (light heavyweight)

Alexander Gustafsson vs Fabricio Werdum (heavyweight)

Marina Rodriguez vs Carla Esparza (women’s strawweight)

Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs Paul Craig (light heavyweight)

Alex Oliveira vs Peter Sobotta (welterweight)

Khamzat Chimaev vs Rhys McKee (welterweight)

Prelims

Francisco Trinaldo vs Jai Herbert (lightweight)

Nicolas Dalby vs Jesse Ronson (welterweight)

Movsar Evloev vs Mike Grundy (featherweight)

Tanner Boser vs. Raphael Pessoa (heavyweight)

Pannie Kianzad vs Bethe Correia (women’s bantamweight)

Ramazan Emeev vs Niklas Stolze (welterweight)

Nathaniel Wood vs John Castaneda (bantamweight)