3. Darren Till an elite middleweight
[autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] didn’t get the win over Whittaker, but he proved one thing for certain: He belongs at the top of the UFC middleweight division.
After back-to-back stoppage losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal sent him out of the welterweight division, Till made his debut at 185 pounds in November with a ho-hum performance and split decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. It was an OK showing from him, but many wondered if it was just an off night for Gastelum and Till anaged to sneak one out.
There’s no doubting Till’s worth now, though. Outside of losing to Adesanya, Whittaker has ran shop in the middleweight division for the past half decade, and more often than not leaves his opponents in a world of pain when they leave the cage. Not only did Till keep conscious over five rounds, but he arguably won the fight.
[lawrence-related id=538846,538800]
The 48-47 scorecards for Whittaker were probably the right way to go, but Till was there all along. He was not embarrassed and he was not outclassed, and it’s clear he’s, at worst, top five in the division.
At 27, Till has already established himself in the upper tier of two weight classes in his career. He appears to be motivated to continuing striving for greatness, and all his supporters should be pleased with what they saw, even in a losing effort.
[jwplayer Qj3I5b9A-RbnemIYZ]