Whittaker praises Till's performance and predicts a meeting with the Englishman in the future: 'I'm going to face him'

R. Whittaker (photo) predicts a duel against D. Till. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC

Although the confrontation between Kelvin Gastelum e Darren till, fur UFC 244, although it didn't catch the eye of the board or some Ultimate fans, an important character in the middleweight division saw something positive. The former champion, Robert whittaker, praised the debut of the Englishman, who moved from the welterweight category (77kg.) and managed to beat one of the toughest athletes in the division. For Robert, a meeting between him and Darren will be inevitable. The statement was made to 'Grange TV'.

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“He performed as well as he did at welterweight, probably even better, because he no longer has to go through those severe weight cuts. And remember, this is just his first fight in the division. He will still adapt and improve. He should remain in the midfield and become dangerous. And now he's in the top 5, so I'll have to face him”, said the Australian.

Although the fight between Gastelum and Till did not excite many MMA fans, for Whittaker, the meeting between two great Ultimate athletes met his expectations. The athlete even made a point of praising the performance of both combatants, with emphasis on Darren.

“It was a balanced fight, resolved in a split decision by the judges. An impressive fight. It could even have been a draw. But I think (Darren) Till got a lot of significant hits. He managed to nullify (Kelvin) Gastelum's striking with his jabs. It was beautiful. Till came with a good strategy and executed it perfectly, because Gastelum is an underrated and very, very dangerous fighter,” said the former champion.

The victory over the North American saw Till take fifth place in the category ranking, pushing Kelvin to seventh. With this, the Englishman can start to dream of a fight for the title, if he continues to beat elite athletes in the category.

At just 26 years old, Darren has already made 20 appearances in his professional career. The athlete emerged victorious and was beaten on just two occasions, both in his last appearances. One of them happened in September 2018, when the Englishman challenged the welterweight title against the former champion, Tyron woodley.

Whittaker should return to the fight to try to compete again for the category belt, lost to Israel adesanya in the main fight of UFC 242, valid for the unification of the division title.