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No opponent was revealed, but expect Darren Till to return to the Octagon soon.
Following a successful if unspectacular debut at middleweight against Kelvin Gastelum, former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till is still waiting for his next matchup.
Till seemingly hinted on Instagram that he could be fighting on the UFC 248 card on March 7th by posting info on Las Vegas’ average March weather, and he may just get his wish. UFC president Dana White revealed in an interview with TheMacLife that the promotion is aiming for Till to fight either in Las Vegas or in his native England, but an opponent is not yet set in stone.
“We’ve been talking to him and bouncing around with different opponents,” White said. “We’ll have something for him very soon. It’ll either be London or Vegas.”
UFC London is March 21st, with a reported main event of Tyron Woodley against Leon Edwards. When asked if Jack Hermansson would be the opponent, White denied the matchup and gave no further specifics.
“Probably not [Hermansson],” White said. “We’ll see how this thing plays out. [It’ll be against] one of the top guys.”
Till (18-2-1) is coming off the aforementioned split decision over Gastelum at UFC 244, snapping a two-fight losing streak while instantly establishing himself as a middleweight contender.
With new champion Israel Adesanya slated to fight Yoel Romero in his first title defense, Robert Whittaker facing Jared Cannonier at UFC 248, and Jack Hermansson seemingly ruled out, options aren’t exactly plentiful. Paulo Costa is sidelined with injury (otherwise he’d be fighting Adesanya), Till just beat Gastelum, Uriah Hall is fighting Jacare Souza at UFC 149, so that leaves Edmen Shahbazyan as the only top-ten option available.
…Or it’ll just be Jack Hermansson. After all, Dana did say “probably not” and not “definitely not.”