Robert Whittaker and Darren Till both made weight on Friday ahead of Sunday's headline clash at UFC Fight Night 3 in Abu Dhabi.
The pair, the No 1 and No 5-ranked middleweights respectively, top a stacked 15-bout card that concludes this month’s inaugural Fight Island in the capital.
Former champion Whittaker, 29 makes his return following defeat to Israel Adesanya last October, when he relinquished his title in Melbourne. Till, meanwhile, competes at this class for only the second time. The Englishman landed a split-decision victory against Kelvin Gastelum in November.
Whittaker goes into the match-up as favourite, with the New Zealand-born Australian stating earlier this week that he needed time away from the UFC having suffered from burnout.
“I’m alive again; the fire for the sport has been lit,” he said on Tuesday. “I’m enjoying all the different angles: media week, the weight cut, my time in isolation. That’s a massive change.
“Feeling this way means I’m going to go in that octagon happy as Larry, and I’m just going to get to work, have fun. Because that’s what drew me to the sport, was what I enjoyed about the sport – the combat aspect of the game. Can’t wait until Sunday.”
On Thursday, Whittaker and Till faced-off for the first time in Abu Dhabi when they posed for pictures in the octagon on Yas Beach. Till seemed nonplussed then, but cut a much more intense figure at the official weigh-in the following day.
After staring down Whittaker, he said: ‘War? War? Let’s do it”. Both men came in at 186 lbs.
Sunday’s event is the fourth and final show to take place in Abu Dhabi during the past two weeks. It features a trilogy bout between Shogun Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, while Alexander Gustafsson makes his debut at heavyweight in his early anticipated encounter with former champion Fabricio Werdum. Fight Night 3 marks only the second time in UFC history that a single event comprises 15 fights.
Here you can find out all the details of who is on the Fight Night card and when they will be fighting.
