Till vs. Gastelum at 185 pounds set for UFC 244

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A pair of former welterweights will collide at 185 pounds in Madison Square Garden later this year. Darren Till is officially headed to 185 pounds.
Till, a former UFC welterweight titl…

UFC Fight Night 147 Saturday 16th March 2019

Photo by Pat Scaasi/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A pair of former welterweights will collide at 185 pounds in Madison Square Garden later this year.

Darren Till is officially headed to 185 pounds.

Till, a former UFC welterweight title challenger, is set to meet Kelvin Gastelum in his middleweight debut at UFC 244, which takes place Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ESPN reported the news Monday.

Two losses in a row and a tough cut to 170 pounds prompted Till to move up a division. In his last fight, the Liverpool native was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal at UFC London in March. Prior to that, Till challenged Tyron Woodley for the title but lost by submission. Till, 26, holds notable wins over Stephen Thompson and Donald Cerrone.

Gastelum, a former welterweight himself, had a two-fight winning streak snapped in his last fight, a “Fight of the Year” contender with Israel Adesanya. That fight, which co-headlined UFC 236 in April, was for the interim middleweight title. Gastelum lost a close decision.

Before that, Gastelum was scheduled to challenge Robert Whittaker for the undisputed belt, but Whittaker fell ill hours before the fight was scheduled to take place. Gastelum is 3-2, 1 NC since moving to 185 pounds in 2016, with wins over ex-champ Michael Bisping and Ronaldo Souza.

UFC 244 does not yet have an official main event, but Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington has been reportedly targeted for the card.