GDT: UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till

[Avs_19]

A fine and close fight where both guys had their moments but it didn't quite live up to what I was hoping for.

 

[Martinez]

If Till was more active he totally could have won

 

[h2]

Whittaker has to stop that charging blitz if he fights Adesanya again. He leaves himself so open.

 

[1specter]

Till just needs to make a few adjustments, thought he honestly landed the better shots overall and cleaner technique compared to Whittaker

 

[member 51464]

Disappointing final round. I think Whittaker will likely get the decision but not sure he deserves it to be honest, he looked pretty bad after round 2 with those wild looping shots.

Think Till also lacks a killer instinct tbh

I think the embarrassment against Woodley and Masvidal is still in the back of Till's mind.

Dude would likely do well to get a sport psychologist.

Pretty wild he threw under 50 strikes total.

 

[1specter]

I think the embarrassment against Woodley and Masvidal is still in the back of Till's mind.

Dude would likely do well to get a sport psychologist.

Pretty wild he threw under 50 strikes total.

Agreed he seems tentative

 

[Perennial]

So what's next for both fighters?

Whittaker vs Cannonier for the #1 contender spot?

Till vs. Romero? Till vs Hermansson? Till vs Uriah Hall

If Till is willing to sit out for a while, he could take on the loser of Adesanya vs Costa...

 

[Ouroboros]

Till has excellent striking technique, good movement and very good feints.

...but his output lets him down. He always opens the door to get outworked.

 

[h2]

I still think Till has a better chance vs Adesanya than Whittaker despite losing this decision.

 

[Taytro]

Can't disagree with the decision but neither guy really came out a winner here. Whittaker didn't impress enough to get another title shot, stays at #1 contender but will have to fight someone else in the mean time to earn another shot at the champ while Costa gets his turn.

Till takes the L so that's 1 win in his last 4, 1 win in over 2 years but he stood in there with a recent champ so he can't fall too far.

No winners here.

 

[1specter]

Also if Whittaker continues to fight like this he's going to get knocked out again, Adesanya would've slept him in the first round again.

 

[member 51464]

Till v Romero could be interesting. Till either learns to overcome his tentative nature or he gets slept, lol.

 

[m9]

So what's next for both fighters?

Whittaker vs Cannonier for the #1 contender spot?

Till vs. Romero? Till vs Hermansson? Till vs Uriah Hall

If Till is willing to sit out for a while, he could take on the loser of Adesanya vs Costa...

I think they do Whittaker/Hermansson with the winner probably getting the next title shot. Timeline fits.

Till is a tougher call. Maybe Brunson if he loses.

I know Cannonier is out there but who knows where he's at coming off a serious injury.

 

[Suxnet]

What a bad comment. This is a decent technical fight that has had some buy moments already and I think the crowd would realize that.

No it's not "technical" it's not a "chess match". Two guys standing in front of each other throwing a strike every ten seconds, majority of which miss or get blocked, is point fighting. And this what the shitty criteria of UFC judging encourages. It's even worse in a 5 round fight. And I'm not just complaining about this fight in particular. It just got me a little more annoyed after seeing two old timers like Shogun and Nog be more active and then you see these two young top contenders doing jack-shit for 5 rounds.

 

[CDJ]

I think you have to do Cannonier vs Whittaker

I know Hermansson just got a win and Cannonier has been hurt but Cannonier made him look very, very bad. Wasn’t all that competitive

 

[CDJ]

No it's not "technical" it's not a "chess match". Two guys standing in front of each other throwing a strike every ten seconds, majority of which miss or get blocked, is point fighting. And this what the shitty criteria of UFC judging encourages. It's even worse in a 5 round fight. And I'm not just complaining about this fight in particular. It just got me a little more annoyed after seeing two old timers like Shogun and Nog be more active and then you see these two young top contenders doing jack-shit for 5 rounds.

i mean if you don’t think that was technical we are watching entirely different sports. Point fighting is typically incredibly technical too so I don’t see why you don’t think they can be both. Wonderboy is basically a point fighter these days, is he not technical? He’s probably the single most technical striker at WW


It’s not a fight casuals would enjoy. But it was solid. Wasn’t everything I’d hoped but it was far from bad

 

[member 51464]

i mean if you don’t think that was technical we are watching entirely different sports. Point fighting is typically incredibly technical too so I don’t see why you don’t think they can be both. Wonderboy is basically a point fighter these days, is he not technical? He’s probably the single most technical striker at WW


It’s not a fight casuals would enjoy. But it was solid. Wasn’t everything I’d hoped but it was far from bad

Agreed. Multiple knockdowns, seeing Till have to defend and get up from the takedown, subtle changes in trying to bait each other.

I really enjoyed it. I was hoping for a Till win, but I thought it was solid. Quality free fights are always a thumbs up in my opinion.

I do like the Cannonier v Whittaker idea floated above if Cannonier is healthy soon.

 

[Taytro]

No it's not "technical" it's not a "chess match". Two guys standing in front of each other throwing a strike every ten seconds, majority of which miss or get blocked, is point fighting. And this what the shitty criteria of UFC judging encourages. It's even worse in a 5 round fight. And I'm not just complaining about this fight in particular. It just got me a little more annoyed after seeing two old timers like Shogun and Nog be more active and then you see these two young top contenders doing jack-shit for 5 rounds.

Youre making your self look worse. This IS a technical fight, feints, reads, tons of head movement, etc. Youre just looking for two idiots to stand in front of each other and throw hammers, youre not gonna find that at the top of the divisions anymore. Izzy, Till, Thompson, Pettis, Jones, etc. These elite strikers who don't have massive outputs and rely heavily on countering. They can be prompted in to the brawl but will also fight on the outside and let opponents make mistakes before throwing volume, aka. what you call 'point fighting'.

I get it Masvidal and McGregor and guys who press forward are more fun to watch but thats not what you got, and more often than not it isnt what you'll get. Being unappreciative of this fight and saying it isn't technical is just a bad look. Not to mention you're absolutely wrong about it.

 

[Suxnet]

i mean if you don’t think that was technical we are watching entirely different sports


It’s not a fight casuals would enjoy. But it was solid. Wasn’t everything I’d hoped but it was far from bad

everyone on earth was too casual for the technicality of Lewis vs Ngannou. The UFC is also entertainment. No one wants to see a hockey team trap for 60 minutes. Just like hockey teams became too brutally effective at defending, fighters have become too effective at barely fighting and winning. Change the rules to discourage this behavior.

 

[CDJ]

everyone on earth was too casual for the technicality of Lewis vs Ngannou. The UFC is also entertainment. No one wants to see a hockey team trap for 60 minutes. Just like hockey teams became too brutally effective at defending, fighters have become too effective at barely fighting and winning. Change the rules to discourage this behavior.

yeah, I’m not talking about Lewis vs Ngannou

 

[m9]

I don't think it was a great fight. It was fine, but both guys were much too tentative.

I disagree with the label that it was a "technical" fight as I thought the offensive technique from both guys was pretty weak. They both did a good job finding their range defensively and avoiding damage but neither guy was really able to figure out the other guy.

 

[Suxnet]

Youre making your self look worse. This IS a technical fight, feints, reads, tons of head movement, etc. Youre just looking for two idiots to stand in front of each other and throw hammers, youre not gonna find that at the top of the divisions anymore. Izzy, Till, Thompson, Pettis, Jones, etc. These elite strikers who don't have massive outputs and rely heavily on countering. They can be prompted in to the brawl but will also fight on the outside and let opponents make mistakes before throwing volume, aka. what you call 'point fighting'.

I get it Masvidal and McGregor and guys who press forward are more fun to watch but thats not what you got, and more often than not it isnt what you'll get. Being unappreciative of this fight and saying it isn't technical is just a bad look. Not to mention you're absolutely wrong about it.

You've just been drinking too much commentator kool-aid. Everyone thinks calling a boring fight "technical" makes them sound like experts on the sport now. Just call it what it is. It was a shit fight from two guys who could have done a lot more.

 

[m9]

You've just been drinking too much commentator kool-aid. Everyone thinks calling a boring fight "technical" makes them sound like experts on the sport now. Just call it what it is. It was a shit fight from two guys who could have done a lot more.

I agree.

And it's not about knockouts. Calvin Kattar put on a great technical performance a week ago. Holloway/Volkanovski had a very good technical fight.

These kind of fights happen sometimes when guys rely on being counter-punchers. Whittaker came out aggressive but dialed it back when he got clipped early. Till may have been slowing down because of the leg kicks, hard to tell.

I said it during the fight, it's just bad decision-making when guys don't put on the pressure at the end of those close rounds. Haven't seen the scorecard but if Till would have done anything at the end of Round 3 he takes that fight. Instead he's content to ride it out. That's not being technical, that's poor fight IQ.

 

[CDJ]

Yeah I’m not interested in debating whether or not those two guys are technical when they are two of the best strikers in the world

you can not like the fight, that’s fine- but it was a technical, defensive fight with tons of feints and trap setting. Not all that different from Till’s last fight, just more offense from his opponent. I don’t really feel like debating that because I don’t see the point in doing so, it was obvious from my seat.


Only way it was gonna be a fire fight was if Whittaker came out like he did against Izzy....which isn’t really a smart path to victory from him

 

[CDJ]

I mean Izzy basically needs new pants talking about Till’s striking but yeah he’s not technical at all. Meanwhile the meathead that only stands and bangs (Costa) says it was trash.

I think that pretty much says it all