Robert Whittaker eyes London showdown with Darren Till

Robert Whittaker is ready to get back on the horse after losing the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 and would like to do so against the division’s newest contender in Darren Till.

“The Reaper” had his nine-fight winning streak snapped by Adesanya last month and has his sights set on a return to the Octagon in early 2020. With talks of the UFC returning to London in March, Whittaker can see no better opportunity to travel to the area for the first time.

“That’s the fight I’m currently interested in,” Whittaker said in a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph. “Plus I’ve never been to Europe before, so what better reason to go?”

After a meteoric rise in the UFC’s welterweight division that lead to a world title opportunity against Tyron Woodley, Till would get finished in back-to-back fights. Woodley would submit Till in the second round of the UFC 228 main event last September. “The Gorilla” returned to the Octagon in March at UFC London, headlining that event against Jorge Masvidal. Till would be brutally knocked out by the surging “Gamebred” and made the decision thereafter to make the move to 185 pounds.

Till made the most of his opportunity in the co-main event of UFC 244 last weekend by defeating former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum via split decision.

The 28-year-old Whittaker captured the interim middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Yoel Romero at UFC 213 in July 2017. Whittaker would later become the undisputed champion and would successfully defend his title against Romero in a hard fought rematch at UFC 225 nearly a year later. In his run to the title, Whittaker picked up wins over the likes of Uriah Hall, Derek Brunson and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

What do you think about a potential middleweight matchup between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/8/2019.