In a hard fought battle of the TUF winners at UFC Fight Night 27, Court McGee got the better of Robert Whittaker by split decision.
McGee starts this one aggressively, immediately slamming in a body kick and pressing forward looking for more action.
A few punches from McGee and Whittaker backs up and out of danger. McGee goes upstairs with a head kick, but it doesn’t find it’s mark.
McGee utilizing leg kicks too and is really pressuring Whittaker who’s not got going yet. Just as I say that he cracks McGee in the jaw as McGee presses forward.
Whittaker starts to work a little behind the jab to try to keep McGee at bay which is somewhat successful.
A takedown attempt for McGee doesn’t work out and he stumbles to the mat for a moment.
Whittaker more into this fight now and McGee is sporting a cut near his left temple. He charges forward with a takedown attempt which drives Whittaker back, but he doesn’t quite land it.
McGee tries for a couple more takedowns in the final seconds of the round, but he’s telegraphing it a bit and Whittaker does a nice job of stuffing both attempts.
Onto round two and McGee looks to get right back to his pressure game, but this time Whittaker is ready for him and they exchange a few punches.
Another exchange and Whittaker gets off-balance and stumbles for just a second.
Big moment for McGee as he lands a hook flush and Whittaker’s legs buckle slightly. Mcgee lands another hard shot as Whittaker tries to clear the cobwebs.
McGee trying for a takedown. He doesn’t get it at the first attempt, but does get him to the mat briefly with the second.
Whittaker seems to be ok and lands a nice elbow as McGee continues to press forward. McGee’s defendly in control this round though, even though he’s now got another cut, this time below his right eye.
Trading blows toe-to-toe and it’s quite even. Whittaker’s leading with his elbow a lot now and is finding success with it.
Whittaker snaps McGee’s head back with a few punches in the final 10 seconds and a looping head kick only just fails to land cleanly. McGee returns fire just as the bell sounds and a few of his punches land after the bell.
Final round then and Whittaker unleashes a couple of early punches down the pipe. He’s being more aggressive now, but McGee’s willing to meet him half-way.
McGee scores with a spinning kick to the mid-section. Whittaker lands a solid couple of blows, but then stumbles.
Left hand lands for Whittaker. Mcgee rifles off a few straight punches, but there’s not a lot behind them.
Another aggressive flurry from Whittaker and McGee matches him with a punch and kick combo.
Another spinning kick from Mcgee, but it doesn’t land hard this time. McGee with the busier work in the closing stages of this fight, though he’s not landing with a whole lot of it.
Into the final minute and McGee’s still keeping up the pace and Whittaker’s on the back foot and just looking for the occasional counter.
final 10 seconds and they both start to throwdown with big strikes, but neither can find a definitive blow before the final bell.
So, a hard fought fight then and the judges are split on who won with some widly different cards, but in the end Court McGee’s deemed to have gotten the better of it in the eyes of two of them (30-27, 29-27, 27-30).
