The Darren Till comeback tour is once again set to commence.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported today (Tues., Sept. 6, 2022) that a match up between Till (18-4-1) and surging South African contender and No. 13-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight, Dricus du Plessis (17-2), has been verbally agreed to. The fight would take place at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Till has struggled to find his way to the Octagon in recent years, having seen five fights fall through since 2020. When he has managed to fight, the results haven’t been ideal, dropping three of his last four since challenging for the Welterweight title in Sept. 2018.
du Plessis, on the other hand, is riding a strong wave of momentum after a wild affair versus Brad Tavares in July 2022 at UFC 276. “Stillknocks” earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory, extending his win streak to three in UFC (five overall).
A win for either man will be crucial for their hopes to reach contention in the continually shifting 185 pound weight class. The month prior to UFC 282 (Sat., Nov. 12, 2022), the title will be on the line when the champion, Israel Adesanya, looks to turn away his fellow vicious striker, Alex Pereira, in Madison Square Garden.
UFC 282, however, remains in its infancy as a card. The last pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year for the promotion is expected to be topped by a big Light Heavyweight title fight rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira. Nothing has been made official by the promotion as of yet.
The current lineup of fights on tap can be seen here:
- 185lbs.: Darren Till vs. Dricus du Plessis
- 170lbs.: Robbie Lawler vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
- 185lbs.: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
- 145lbs.: Billy Quarantillo vs. Alexander Hernandez