Darren Till (Picture by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

These four UFC matches on Fight Island are worth looking out for.

Fight Island might not have actually been what all of us anticipated– rather, it’s simply Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a location that has actually held UFC occasions prior to. Upon what’s been revealed and reported for the four cards on Fight Island currently, the buzz is currently there.

All of it starts on July 11 when the UFC hosts UFC 251 at the place, topped by 3 title fights: Kamaru Usman protecting the UFC welterweight title versus Gilbert Burns, UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski rematching with Max Holloway and Petr Yan and Jose Aldo fighting for the uninhabited bantamweightchampionship Not to reference there is a stacked undercard including lots of intriguing matches and fan-favorite names.

What matches on Fight Island are the ones to watch on most?

Following that highly-anticipated card, the UFC will hold 3 more cards on Fight Island, consisting of an unique Wednesday card on July 15, along with cards on July 18 and July 25.

Regardless of occurring in Abu Dhabi, the cards will be kept in their conventional start times, consisting of the main pay-per-view card on July 11 beginning at 10 p.m. ET, with the other 3 occasions’ main cards each beginning around 9 p.m. ET.

With a lot of fights to be hyped for and the prospective fireworks that these bring, which ones should we be most thrilled about?

Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas II (UFC 251– July 11)

Rose Namajunas lastly makes her return to the Octagon, and she’ll do fight with the lady who won the UFC women’s strawweight title from her, Jessica Andrade. The 2 initially did fight at UFC 237 in Might2019 Namajunas carried out sturdily in the opening round of that bout however Andrade took the win in the second round after an effective slam on Namajunas. Namajunas initially considered retirement after the fight.

Prior to the loss, Namajunas had won 6 of the 7 fights she had after losing the inaugural strawweight title fight to Carla Esparza. She won the title by managing a stunning, first-round finish of Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 and won the rematch at UFC223 After winning the title from Namajunas, Andrade dropped the title to Weili Zhang at UFC Shenzhen in August.

There are lots of concerns to be responded to in this one. How will Namajunas look after another long layoff from the Octagon? Will she look as excellent as she was carrying out prior to Andrade knocked her out with the slam in the original fight? Will Andrade’s power be excessive for her? How will Andrade look in her first fight given that losing the championship? And definitely not least: could the winner of this fight be the next in line to obstacle Zhang?

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiri Prochazka (UFC 251– July 11)

The highly-touted Jiri Prochazka lastly makes his UFC debut and he’ll be checked versus a competitor right now, as he’ll take on former UFC light heavyweight title opposition Volkan Oezdemir.

Prochazka has actually been a staple of RIZIN given that the promo’s 2015 creation. He’s won 26 of 30 expert Mixed Martial Arts bouts and has won 10 straight and 20 of his last 21fights In this time, Prochazka has actually scored wins over Satoshi Ishii, Vadim Nemkov, Brandon Halsey, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Fabio Maldonado and C.B. Dollaway. The win over Lawal provided him the inaugural RIZIN light heavyweight title and he effectively kept that versus Dollaway at RIZIN 20 on New Year’s Eve, his newest bout.

Oezdemir himself left to a hot start in his UFC run, scoring a split-decision win over Ovince St. Preux prior to knocking out both Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa in less than 30 seconds each, making a title shot versus Daniel Cormier at UFC 220– a fight where Oezdemir was completed in the secondround He then suffered losses to future title oppositions Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes however has actually rebounded with a late second-round finish of Ilir Latifi and a questionable split decision win over Aleksandar Rakic.

Prochazka has a great deal of ravaging power, with all however 3 of his wins visiting KO/TKO. He hasn’t seen a decision given that 2016 and many of his surfaces given that have actually come in the first round. Oezdemir likewise has a history of tossing for power and will be looking to make a declaration and return in the title image. This has the makings of somebody putting their opponent to sleep with destruction.

Jack Hermansson vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC Fight Island– July 18)

While the July 18 card will be headlined by the flyweight championship rematch in between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo, the co-main event that night will likewise be one worth watching on– a middleweight face-off in between Jack Hermansson and former interim title opposition Kelvin Gastelum.

While Hermansson was good in his first 5 Octagon bouts, going 3-2, with among the losses coming to ultimate title opposition Thiago Santos, it was 2018 when he truly began to discover his groove. He went on a four- fight win streak, completing former title opposition Thales Leites, scoring first-round submissions of Gerald Meerschaert and David Branch– the latter being available in simply 49 seconds and won him an Efficiency of the Night benefit– and completing on brief notification to defeat former Strikeforce champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Hermansson’s momentum, nevertheless, was stopped at the hands of Jared Cannonier at UFC Copenhagen in September.

Gastelum has actually had his own successes given that moving to middleweight, completing Tim Kennedy and Vitor Belfort in an Efficiency of the Night getaway (though the latter was reversed to a no-contest) prior to a submission loss to former champ Chris Weidman. Gastelum rebounded with a first-round knockout of Michael Bisping and a split-decision win over Souza in a Fight of the Night getaway to make a title shot– however then-champ Robert Whittaker would take out the day of UFC234 Rather, Gastelum and Israel Adesanya met in an interim title fight at UFC 236, losing in not just the Fight of the Night, however FanSided Mixed Martial Arts’s 2019 Fight of the Year. Gastelum most just recently contended at UFC 244, welcome Darren Till to the middleweight division, and lost a split decision.

Both of these men have actually revealed they have the abilities to be competitors, particularly Gastelum. Thinking about both are ranked simply outside the top-five, the loser of this one will most likely be hardly hanging to a top-10 ranking after this. Hermansson has actually revealed fantastic precision in his striking and it’ll be intriguing to see if Gastelum returns fire with his boxing abilities or efforts to utilize his wrestling and take the action to the ground.

Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till (UFC Fight Island– July 25)

The final fight of the UFC’s Fight Island schedule will be and be an outright banger among Australia’s best skills taking on among England’s. The headliner of the July 25 Fight Island card will include the return of former UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker. In his first fight given that losing the title, he’ll take on Darren Till.

Whittaker, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, went 3-2 in the Octagon as a welterweight prior to moving to 185 and rising through the ranks. In between his last bout a 170 and his middleweight run, Whittaker won 9 in a row, that included surfaces of Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Whittaker won the interim middleweight title by beating Yoel Romero at UFC 213, and he was promoted to undeniable champ prior to completion of 2017 after Georges St Pierre was identified with colitis. Whittaker controversially beat Romero once again in a non-title bout at UFC 225 (Romero missed out on weight), however injuries avoided him from a first defense of the middleweight title till he and Israel Adesanya merged the belt at UFC 243, a fight Whittaker lost by second-round knockout.

Till went 1-0-1 in the UFC in 2015 prior to choosing things back up in 2017, scoring four straight wins, consisting of a first-round finish of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and a questionable decision win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. He challenged Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at UFC 228 and suffered the first loss of his profession. Till was then knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in March2019 After some legal difficulty that year, Till returned at UFC 244 as a middleweight, beating Kelvin Gastelum.

With both men having crisp striking and more than efficient in completing a fight, this one might be a firefight and has the capability to be an outright war. Whittaker currently withdrew from a set up bout with Cannonier due to burnout, so it’s worth seeing if Whittaker can still have the peak efficiencies he’s formerly had in the Octagon. A win for Whittaker can bring him one action more detailed to a title rematch, while a win for Till might maybe be the most significant of his profession and possibly get him a face-off with Adesanya.

Respectable points out

All four title fights: All four of these fights look to have the capability to be enjoyable wars and each has its own story of sorts connected. Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns are colleagues defending the welterweight title. Max Holloway looks to restore the title from Alexander Volkanovski. Petr Yan has the chance to beat a legend and protected gold. Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo will ideally both make weight and offer us a brand-new men’s flyweight king. Each of these, nevertheless, likewise has its skeptic sensations. Will Volkanovski-Holloway and Benavidez-Figueiredo be simply repeats of their original fights? Should Aldo truly be challenging for the bantamweight title off 2 straight losses? Would Not Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal have been a more enjoyable fight than Usman-Burns? Alexander Gustafsson vs. Fabricio Werdum: This fight feels so random and yet it feels excellent to have “The Mauler” back in action. Werdum didn’t look all that remarkable versus Aleksei Oleinik however has a case that he was robbed of awin Gustafsson will have the chance for an extremely effective return and beat a former champ to get a good start in a brand-new weight class. Werdum has the chance to get a win and attempt to return into the hunt.Pedro Munhoz vs. Frankie Edgar: Edgar, the former UFC light-weight champ and featherweight title opposition, will be making his bantamweight debut– and it won’ t be a simple job. Munhoz has actually done fight with a few of the hardest that bantamweight has to deal and is looking to enter the top-five at135 There are concerns as to how excellent it is for Edgar to move down another weight class and if Munhoz is going to be excessive for him; nevertheless, a win for Edgar will definitely do him marvels and extend his footprint in the Octagon with success in a 3rd weight class. Next: 10 of the most significant fight cities on the planet

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