Till suffered torn MCL in loss to Whittaker

Middleweight contender Darren Till suffered a torn MCL in the UFC Fight Night main event on July 25, his coach told ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Thursday.

Till lost a unanimous decision to former champion Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Liverpool native said after the fight he thought he injured his left knee in the second round and would possibly need surgery.

"Doctors are amazed he was able to stand up for the last three rounds," Till's coach, Colin Heron, said via text. "He is in a cast for six weeks, then we'll reassess. Hopefully, it will start to knit while immobilized."

The 27-year-old is now 1-1 in the middleweight division. He moved up to the weight class in 2019 after two straight losses and beat Kelvin Gastelum in his debut.

Till challenged Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title in September 2018, but he lost via submission. "The Gorilla" is 6-3-1 in the UFC.