{"id":142766,"date":"2020-07-25T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=142766"},"modified":"2020-07-27T07:50:02","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T14:50:02","slug":"ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till in Middleweight Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Whittaker faces a difficult challenge if he wants to bounce back from losing his middleweight title, as he takes on No. 5 contender Darren Till in the main event of UFC on ESPN 14 this Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"UFC
Robert Whittaker throws a punch at Israel Adesanya during their fight at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 6, 2019. (Image: EPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Whittaker last stepped into the Octagon, he lost his belt to Israel Adesanya<\/a>, who knocked out the former champion in the second round at UFC 243.<\/p>\n

That loss wasn\u2019t nearly enough to knock Whittaker (20-5) out of the title picture. But the 29-year-old will need to beat Till this weekend if he wants to stay on the shortlist of contenders in the middleweight division.<\/p>\n

Whittaker enters the bout as a -135 favorite over Till (+108), according to PointsBet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whittaker Rebounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whittaker considered retirement after the loss to Adesanya. But after taking time to reflect on his situation, he regained his hunger for competition.<\/p>\n

It was a natural decision,\u201d <\/strong>Whittaker told Yahoo Sports. \u201cIt was a combination of me talking to my team, of me talking to my family. Soul Searching. It was a mixture of the lot. That\u2019s the journey of this sport, to just get better.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Till (18-2-1) has lost two of his past three fights but is looking to work his way into the middleweight title picture. Till says a win over Whittaker should immediately rocket him into a championship fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I win, I\u2019m fighting Israel Adesanya<\/a>, and that\u2019s all there is to it,\u201d Till told reporters on Tuesday\u2019s media day. \u201cIf I beat Whittaker, I don\u2019t want to hear any name come out of anybody\u2019s mouth other than Israel Adesanya.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rua, Nogueira Finish Trilogy\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mauricio \u201cShogun\u201d Rua will look to beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for a third time in the UFC on ESPN 14 co-main event. Rua enters as a -195 favorite over Nogueira (+155) in the light heavyweight fight.<\/p>\n

The two men first fought while in Pride FC in 2005, then took a rematch in the UFC in 2015. Rua won by unanimous decision on both occasions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fought Nogueira [at] the start of my career, the middle, and the final,\u201d Rua told reporters on Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019m happy because Rogerio is a legend of the sport, and I know this fight motivates him. But for me, too, and I\u2019m very happy for this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Nogueira has announced that this will likely be his final professional MMA fight.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a good time to stop now. I think it\u2019s going to be the last one,\u201d<\/strong> Nogueira told reporters. \u201cIn my last three years, it was very difficult to train, because I had a herniated disc. I had to cancel a lot of fights. Every year I fought one time, then the second one I would have to cancel.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also on the UFC on ESPN 14 card, Fabricio Werdum (+260) takes on Alexander Gustafsson (-350) in a heavyweight tilt, while the undefeated Marina Rodriguez (-185) is favored over Carla Esparza (+145) in women\u2019s strawweight action.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Whittaker faces a difficult challenge if he wants to bounce back from losing his middleweight title, as he takes on No. 5 contender Darren Till in the main event of UFC on ESPN 14 this Saturday. When Whittaker last stepped into the Octagon, he lost his belt to Israel Adesanya, who knocked out the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":142768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-25T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-27T14:50:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/\",\"name\":\"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-25T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-27T14:50:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Robert Whittaker throws a punch at Israel Adesanya during their fight at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 6, 2019. (Image: EPA)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sports\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till in Middleweight Showdown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till","description":"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till","og_description":"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-07-25T08:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-27T14:50:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/","name":"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-25T08:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-27T14:50:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"UFC on ESPN 14 features a main event clash between former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and No. 5 ranked contender Darren Till.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Robert-Whittaker.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Robert Whittaker throws a punch at Israel Adesanya during their fight at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 6, 2019. (Image: EPA)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-on-espn-14-odds-whittaker-narrowly-favored-vs-till\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sports","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"UFC on ESPN 14 Odds: Whittaker Narrowly Favored vs. Till in Middleweight Showdown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}