UFC Fight Night 172 - Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 --- UFC Fight Night 173 - Brunson vs. Shahbazyan
UFC on ESPN 14: Whittaker vs. Till is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on July 26, 2020 at the Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Fight card
Main card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Middleweight Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till
Light Heavyweight Maurício Rua vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Heavyweight Fabrício Werdum vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Women's Strawweight Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez
Light Heavyweight Paul Craig vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Welterweight Alex Oliveira vs. Peter Sobotta
Welterweight Khamzat Chimaev vs. Rhys McKee
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Lightweight Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert
Welterweight Nicolas Dalby vs. Jesse Ronson
Heavyweight Tom Aspinall vs. Jake Collier
Featherweight Movsar Evloev vs. Mike Grundy
Heavyweight Tanner Boser vs. Raphael Pessoa
Women's Bantamweight Bethe Correia vs. Pannie Kianzad
Welterweight Ramazan Emeev vs. Niklas Stolze
Bantamweight Nathaniel Wood vs. John Castaneda
Background
This event will be the fourth and final UFC Fight Island event scheduled to take place on Yas Island in July 2020, following UFC 251, UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige and UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2, as part of a plan to facilitate the hosting of events involving fighters impacted by U.S. travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Darren Till has been slated to serve as the event headliner.
The event will also include fighters that were pulled from other events previously cancelled, as well as the following bouts:
A light heavyweight bout between the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Maurício Rua (also 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion) and Antônio Rogério Nogueira. The pairing previously met at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 and UFC 190, with Rua winning both fights. The bout was scheduled for the original May 9 date of UFC 250 that later became UFC 249, but cancelled due to the relocation of the event.
A women's bantamweight bout between former title challenger Bethe Correia and Pannie Kianzad. This bout was also scheduled for the original May 9 date of UFC 250 and removed for the same reasons as the fight above it.
A welterweight bout between Danny Roberts and Nicolas Dalby. They were scheduled to meet at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards, but the event was the first of five to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Roberts was forced off the card due to injury and replaced by returning veteran Jesse Ronson.
A heavyweight bout between Tom Aspinall and Jake Collier. This fight was also scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards and removed for the same reasons as the previous one.
A welterweight bout between Ramazan Emeev and Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to take place at the event, but Rakhmonov was forced to withdraw due to injury on July 2 and replaced by Niklas Stolze.
Umar Nurmagomedov was expected to face Nathaniel Wood in a bantamweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 3 after his uncle, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov (also the father of current UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov), died from complications related to COVID-19. He was replaced by promotional newcomer John Castaneda.
A women's strawweight bout between former Invicta FC and UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez was scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige nine days earlier. However, the bout was cancelled after one of Rodriguez's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. Rodriguez had her test come back negative, but the bout was scrapped due to precautionary reasons. They were rescheduled for this event.
Justin Tafa was expected to face Raphael Pessoa in a heavyweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 15 due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Tanner Boser.
