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Whittaker vs Till wasn't the chess match or super tactical fight it gets made to be but still an interesting fights where Till showed some new wrinkles of his game and Rob showed his champion mindset once again, he can't be broken.
Early on Till tried to dictate the distance and pace of the fight, Rob countered with an intercepting jab and this would foreshadow most of the success both had, countering.
Till took the round and his footwork helped him mostly doing it, while many parts of his game gets exaggerated, his pressure footwork is genuinely good and it's hard to escape it. He put Rob in many uncomfortable situations and took early on some weapons from him.
Rob utilizes his kicks often to push opponents back and for good bodywork, Till's hands being low makes it easier for him to catch kicks.
So throwing kicks without set ups or attacking the body this way was early on defused.
So throwing kicks without set ups or attacking the body this way was early on defused.
Being pressured and dealing with a longer opponent who has a small reach advantage, quite frustrated Rob and his best way to close the distance was with his blitzes.
He feinted the jab to come up with a left hook over the shoulder, one of his go to moves. But when he blitzes he tends to dip his head and Till read this, timed a well placed elbow and shoved him away.
Rob shifts during his blitzes what leads to him being off balance.
Rob shifts during his blitzes what leads to him being off balance.
A better view on Till's counter. Grabbing Rob's shoulder with the lead hand and landing the counter elbow.
Rob was dropped but recovered really quickly, Till tried to land follow up strikes but Rob went directly between his legs to grab a single leg, what allowed him two things.
1. Protect himself by being not clearly hittable
2. Going for a single leg to keep Till off balance
1. Protect himself by being not clearly hittable
2. Going for a single leg to keep Till off balance
He had time to recover and occupy Till.
Very good instincts and he did the right defensive measurements to protect himself and also gain more time to recover.
Very good instincts and he did the right defensive measurements to protect himself and also gain more time to recover.
As already mentioned Till has good pressure footwork but the problem for him is being too limited to exploit the situations he forces his opponents into.
Mostly feinting to set up his left hand. Not really using a jab or going for follow up attacks like a double or triple attack.
Mostly feinting to set up his left hand. Not really using a jab or going for follow up attacks like a double or triple attack.
While Till's stance allows him to cross distance more easily, his wide stance leads to him being front leg heavy and being an easy target for leg kicks and Rob attacked his legs throughout the fight, especially the calf and the knee.
The sidekick that most likely lead to Till's knee popping out and limiting his mobility and offensive options.
Till stood squared up, Rob pulled Till's lead hand down, he tried to counter but was out of position and Rob landed the right overhand behind the ear and clipped Till.
Following on the ground Rob showed here and later on that his grappling is also offensively very good. About his TDD is enough known but this was probably the biggest new asset that he had shown.
In Till's guard he framed Till's head off to create space and landed some hard elbows on top.
He used his grappling offensively as he never did before, grabbing the knee to a single leg to occupy Darren and landing a left hook on the break.h
He used this set up multiple times during the fight at parts also to counter Darren's counters or forward pressure to create space and to push him back.
While he had success with that his blitzes were most often not really effective and he exploded more than setting them up behind a layered offense like he usual does, like double jabbing or feinting.
He uses his blitzes normally to set up other things behind it, like getting into the inside to land his left hook and/or to push his opponent back and get a better position by keeping an outside foot position which opens up the possibility for a follow up attack after it
For example good to be seen against Jacaré, always exit in different angles, he was really too often head hunting here or not looking for the options like he usually does.
The later part was mostly fought as already mentioned from both on the counter, Rob was more active in comparison but neither was willing too fully commit.
Till feints with his lead hand and follows with an uppercut, Rob blocks it and immediately counters with a left overhand.
Till feints with his lead hand and follows with an uppercut, Rob blocks it and immediately counters with a left overhand.
It was hard to get fully something going when both tried to time each other. Whittaker had mostly success with leg kicks in initiating attacks and with Till being compromised he focused more on staying in stance.
Same set up that led to Till being dropped.
Rob pulls the lead hand down but Till is still in stance and can love backwards while leaning back to evade Rob's right overhand.
Rob pulls the lead hand down but Till is still in stance and can love backwards while leaning back to evade Rob's right overhand.
Till's offense revolves mostly around sneaking his left hand in and he has some clever set ups and variations to make his limited offense still very effective.
Feinting a jab, while moving to left side to lead Rob into his left uppercut and keeping the better outside positioning to stay out of range against a counter.
Grabbing Rob's left arm to pull it aside and land a straight, follow up with 1-2.
Hair trigger counters when Rob closes the distance made it hard for him to constitutionally get a good offense going.
The other frustrating aspect was that Rob had good success with his jab early on in his fight.
Let it be to intercept Till or build offense behind it but he didn't really use it often enough.
Let it be to intercept Till or build offense behind it but he didn't really use it often enough.
Rob closes the distances with half steps, his straight but parries Till's elbow but misses.
Till grabs a double collar tie but Rob retracts his right arm and lands a left hook while he blocks Till's knee with his right arm.
Till grabs a double collar tie but Rob retracts his right arm and lands a left hook while he blocks Till's knee with his right arm.
Rob was clearly superior in the clinch and had a better positional awareness.
Jab to get a single collar tie and land uppercuts on the inside.
Jab to get a single collar tie and land uppercuts on the inside.
When Rob committed to his wrestling he actually got hold on Till.
Duck under Till's straight grab a single and took him down.
He stayed on him and chained some good TDs together after that from a Bodylock.
Duck under Till's straight grab a single and took him down.
He stayed on him and chained some good TDs together after that from a Bodylock.
The fight wasn't too high paced but had some interesting moments.
Rob ultimately won because of his variety of attacks and mixing it up with grappling in between to discourage some of Till's pressure.
It was still not too impressive from Rob looked tactically regressed.
Rob ultimately won because of his variety of attacks and mixing it up with grappling in between to discourage some of Till's pressure.
It was still not too impressive from Rob looked tactically regressed.
A lack of body work when Till mostly leans back after his blitzes, mostly exploding and not landing follow up attacks.
He looked physically good and his chin is definitely still there.
I want to see his next fight to make a better assessment of him.
He looked physically good and his chin is definitely still there.
I want to see his next fight to make a better assessment of him.
He needs definitely to work on his game planning with his coaches and I decline might begin because shot or not shot, it won't go uphill from here on out.
I'm still very happy that he won and proved that he is far from being done.
I'm still very happy that he won and proved that he is far from being done.
To Till, he showed some really good improvements but his limited offense is a big problem when he actually gets positions which he could exploit by having more tools to utilize.
He has the right ideas but lacks tech and craft to really be more effective.
He has the right ideas but lacks tech and craft to really be more effective.
In total I can't blame neither of them for thinking it was a tactical chess match, reacting to so many feints and being on edge all the time will mentally drain most fighters.
I still stand by my point that it wasn't really this so called chess match but an interesting fight.
I still stand by my point that it wasn't really this so called chess match but an interesting fight.
